Illustrative photo – Detail of the machine of the CBDmat company with products from technical hemp in Stodolní Street in Ostrava on January 8, 2021.
Prague – The State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority (SZPI) is preparing a measure that will ban the marketing of cannabidiol CBD and other substances obtained from hemp. The Ministry of Agriculture informed ČTK about this in a press release. On the Czech market, these products are sold as oils, confectionery, tinctures or, for example, candies. The ministry did not say when the ban would come into effect. After its release, it will not be possible to resell the products.
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The ministry pointed out that according to the EU regulation on novel foods, products containing CBD are considered so-called novel foods because they were not consumed on a significant scale in the member states before May 1997. Therefore, they may not be placed on the market until their safety has been checked by the European Food Safety Authority ( EFSA).
Minister of Agriculture Zdeněk Nekula (KDU-ČSL) stated that companies introducing products with CBD to the market must check with his department whether they are new foods according to European legislation. “The ban on the marketing of cannabinoids and foods containing them will have an impact on some food business operators,” he added. He also stated that a number of businesses have fulfilled this obligation.
Cannabinoids are found in nature mainly in cannabis plants. These include cannabidiol, which is closely related to the main psychoactive substance in cannabis, THC. According to the ministry, the European Food Safety Authority has identified several areas that need to be investigated, such as the effect of CBD on the liver, nervous system or psychological functions.
The ministry said that according to the judgment of the EU Court of Justice, CBD is not considered a narcotic substance , which is why it is considered food according to the European Commission. The Commission has already received more than 190 applications for the authorization of CBD and hemp extracts, 20 of which are currently being assessed by the European Food Safety Authority. “In its statement of June 2022, EFSA identified several potential risks and stated that many missing data regarding potential health effects need to be completed before progress can be made in assessing the safety of CBD and hemp extracts. It stated that due to the lack of data it is not possible to confirm the safety of CBD,” the department said.
