Not all is doom and gloom on the cannabis front in Europe, no matter the frustrating red tape, delays, and inevitable lawsuits.
Indeed, this week the European Commission released news of two important developments that will certainly move the industry forward regionally. This is true even if further legal action is required in specific jurisdictions. With reform at an EU level, this creates the opportunity for policy and regulatory changes in individual countries like never before. One very good example of this is the Kanavape case in France, which was raised to an EU-level legal challenge, and which, in turn, spawned a similar lawsuit in Germany to allow imported hemp products.
The first announcement is absolutely going to impact hemp production. The second is going to move the needle on setting EU-wide standards on the cultivation front.
No matter how long and torturous the wait has been, including thanks to COVID delays, there is indeed light at the end of this canna-tunnel that ain’t just another train.
Validation of 5 Novel Food Applications
At least five companies in the EU have just received news that their Novel Food CBD cases have reached the final stages of the Novel Food process. These companies are located in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, France, and a British company.
Novel Food regulation is much misunderstood outside of Europe — and even within its borders there is plenty of confusion. Essentially, this regulation states that if a plant has not been in wide circulation and widely consumed since 1997, it must go through a separate compliance process. When this is applied to cannabis it broadly means three things — the source of the seed, its