The Canapa Sativa Italia association once again reports to the European Commission, DG AGRI, the restrictive measures on the free circulation of goods that Italy aims to introduce with the ‘Security’ bill. (1) In turn the subject of a petition to the European Parliament.
A series of complaints have also been presented in Brussels, against Italy, in relation to the decree of 27 June 2024 which re-introduces compositions for oral use.
containing natural CBD in the medicine table (2,3).
While waiting for the European Commission to comply with the request for urgent intervention against Italy for violation of EU law, the Udine Public Prosecutor’s Office has recently released 130 kg of light cannabis in transit through the country.
1) Canapa Sativa Italia, complaints in Brussels on the Italian ‘Security’ bill
Cannabis Sativa Italia (CSI) filed a complaint with the European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, on 27 May 2024 against Italy for the violation of EU law as reflected in the ‘Security’ bill (AS 1236) in Article 18.
The trade association then urged DG AGRI, after months of its unjustified inaction. Also offering updates on the advanced state of the legislative process of the rule that introduces unacceptable restrictions on the free circulation of hemp-based products.
1.1) Total ban on the use of inflorescences
The draft law ‘Safety’ imposes a total ban on the use of hemp inflorescences (Cannabis sativa L.) in any form (including semi-finished, dried and crushed). Please note this prohibition:
– is expressly referred to every possible activity (importation, processing, detention, transfer, distribution, trade, transport, sending, shipment and delivery) related to inflorescences.
-is extended to the inflorescences of plants of botanical varieties registered in the Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species, pursuant to Directive 2002/53/EC.
The ban therefore concerns a part of a plant classified as an ‘agricultural product’ and an ‘industrial plant’, pursuant to the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Market Organisation. (4)
1.2) Violation of the principle of free movement of goods
The principle of free movement of goods – first pillar of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Articles 34 and 36 – is clearly violated by the above-mentioned Italian provision. Court of Justice of the European Union (GJEU) has already clarified the unlawfulness of national rules hindering the circulation of hemp-derived products such as CBD. (5) Which:
– must be able to circulate freely within the single market, when produced and marketed in a Member State in compliance with EU law;
-unless the member state provides concrete evidence of public health risks, which in this case was not provided by the Italian state.
The official interpretation of the Court of Justice has been accepted by the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf, the Council of State in France – which ruled the ban on the sale of hemp inflorescences, as well as CBD, to be illegitimate – and the Supreme Administrative Court of Warsaw, as seen (6,7,8).
1.3) National legislative process, updates
The bill ‘Security’ was approved by the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic on 12 September 2024 and subsequently transmitted to the Senate on 19 September 2024 (S.1236).
The text is now being examined by the joint Constitutional Affairs and Justice Committees of the Senate, which the parties of the government majority hope to conclude by December 2024. (9)
1.4) Failure to notify Brussels
Italy has not notified the European Commission of the part of the ‘Security’ bill that introduces the ban on any activity involving hemp inflorescences. Notification to Brussels is instead essential, since this national provision qualifies as a technical regulation relating to goods.
The defect of notification or the failure to comply with the ‘standstill period’ that must follow it – pursuant to the TRIS ( Technical Regulation Information System) Directive (EU) No 2015/1535 – entails the inapplicability of the national technical standard, according to the consolidated jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union.(10)
1.5) Economic and social impacts
The economic and social impacts of banning all hemp inflorescence-related activities are very serious, with particular regard to:
– Italian farmers who, thanks to the added value of the inflorescences, can recover margins useful for encouraging the cultivation of hemp in Italy;
-the spread in Italy of a crop that is characterised by its extraordinary capacity to absorb CO2, as well as its resilience, resistance to drought, bioremediation and soil fertilisation; (11,12)
– the development of a supply chain which in turn stands out as an emblem of circular economy, with various industrial applications in different sectors consistent with the European Green Deal;(13)
-free competition and trade in hemp-derived products in the European Union market.
1.6) Petition to the European Parliament
The associations representing thousands of agricultural and hemp supply chain businesses and their workers in Italy have also presented a petition to the European Parliament, in September 2024.
The petition in turn denounces the violation of EU law by the ‘Security’ bill, in the part which provides for the prohibition of any activity relating to hemp inflorescences. (14)
2) Natural narcotic CBD?
The decree of the Italian Ministry of Health which includes the compositions for oral use containing CBD derived from Cannabis Sativa L. in the table of medicinal products in turn constitutes a national technical standard subject to mandatory notification pursuant to the TRIS directive.
The Italian government however, it has once again failed to notify the European Commission of the measure. To which numerous operators have instead turned to denounce once again the violation of EU law as already interpreted by the Court of Justice in this specific area.
3) Free movement of goods, release of ‘cannabis light’
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic at the Court of Udine has recently accepted the request for the release of 130 kg of ‘cannabis light’ produced in the Czech Republic and destined for the French market.
The Finance Police had seized the hemp inflorescences and arrested the two Czech citizens who were transporting them, without verifying their full legitimacy demonstrated by the analyses included in the transport documents.
The inflorescences in fact, derived from plants of varieties authorised in the EU, precisely because they were characterised by a Delta-9-THC level lower than 0,2% and therefore devoid of psychotropic effects. (15)
4) Future prospects
Law 242/2016 – ‘Provisions for the promotion of cultivation and the agro-industrial supply chain of hemp’ – had laid the foundations for the rebirth of a supply chain that in Italy boasts a historical tradition dating back to the Middle Ages and reached its peak in the XXth century with 90.000 hectares of crops.
Italy was the world’s second largest producer of hemp, after Russia, when the plant’s uses were still limited to the production of ropes, sails and fabrics. Even before its benefits for soil health, climate change mitigation and food destinies emerged. (16)
The perspectives of rebirth of this supply chain are however foundering due to bad politics which, starting in 2018, two years after the promulgation of the framework law on hemp, has launched a completely unfounded and inappropriate witch hunt. (17) And it is therefore time for the European Commission to intervene, once and for all.
5) Provisional conclusions
Italian farmers now more than ever need to be able to invest in a crop that is also suitable for arid and/or marginal areas and can guarantee decent incomes. Attention and public investments should instead be directed towards research and innovation on:
-genetic selection, to increase the profitability of farmers investing in hemp cultivation;
– effective extraction processes, also as an alternative to the use of expensive supercritical fluids; (18,19);
-analysis methods suitable for distinguishing natural extracts from chemically synthesised ones. (20)
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Alessandra Mei. Cannabis light, the European Commission examines the Italian bans. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6.6.24
(2) Ministry of Health. Decree of 27 June 2024. Updating of the tables containing the indication of narcotic and psychotropic substances, pursuant to the Presidential Decree of 9 October 1990, n. 309, and subsequent amendments and additions. Insertion in the table of medicinal products, section B, of compositions for oral administration of cannabidiol obtained from cannabis extracts https://tinyurl.com/3h7wx3uu
(3) See also the previous article by Dario Dongo. Italy, CBD enters the list of ‘medicines extracted from narcotic substances’. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 25.8.23
(4) See the paragraph ‘Cannabis sativa L., permitted varieties and aid in agriculture’ in the previous article by Dario Dongo. Industrial hemp and circular economy. FT (Food Times). August 16, 2019
(5) Dario Dongo. Natural CBD, EU Court of Justice declares unjustified bans unlawful. New Horizons. FT (Food Times). November 21, 2020
(6) Dario Dongo. CBD green light, justice at the Düsseldorf District Court. FT (Food Times). May 30, 2021
(7) Dario Dongo. France, Council of State suspends ban on sale of leaves and flowers of Cannabis sativa L. FT (Food Times). January 27, 2022
(8) Dario Dongo. The Cannabis sativa L. plant is not a Novel Food. Yet another confirmation from Warsaw. FT (Food Times). June 24, 2022
(9) What is the status of the contested Security bill? Public policy. 20.11.24 https://tinyurl.com/yc5x8pjd
(10) Dario Dongo (2019). Food Regulations and Enforcement in Italy. In book: Reference Module in Food Science. Science Direct. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-100596-5.21172-4
(11) Marta Strinati. The power of hemp to sequester carbon at the heart of Hemp-30. FT (Food Times). January 10, 2023
(12) Dario Dongo, Alessandra Mei. Hemp, resilience in agriculture and sustainable development. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 15.4.23
(13) Dario Dongo. Industrial hemp and circular economy. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.8.19
(14) Security Bill, associations report violation to the European Parliament on the ban on Hemp. Adnkronos. 25 September 2024 https://tinyurl.com/3r3kyhje
(15) Hubert Londero. The Guardia di Finanza will have to return 130 kilos of marijuana to the manufacturing company. Telefriuli. 21.11.24 https://tinyurl.com/42eywarr
(16) Laura Pontassuglia, Dario Dongo. Superfood, hemp. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
(17) Dario Dongo. Industrial hemp, bad politics. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 10.5.19
(18) Deborah Decorti. Cold pasteurization and supercritical CO2. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 26.3.19
(19) Marta Strinati. Canapa Revolution, the project of the University of Camerino. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 27.6.22
(20) Dario Dongo. CBD, research development for an effective analysis protocol. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 27.12.21
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
