07/03/2023

Hemp leaves freely available again in the EU

The EU has removed hemp leaves from the Novel Food Catalogue. This means that hemp tea can again be sold in the EU without prior approval. The background was that EU food law classifies products that have not been used for human consumption to any significant extent in the European Union before May 15, 1997 as "Novel Food" and makes their sale dependent on prior approval. This is intended to protect health from potential harm from new or previously uncirculated food. The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) has now succeeded in proving that the consumption of hemp leaves was quite common in Europe before the reference date. This means that hemp tea is no longer considered novel. The EU Commission has now explicitly recognized this in its catalog.