Last verified: 14 October 2026
In brief
Many hemp shipments fail because someone assumed âCBD is legal in that countryâ. In many markets, CBD extract is legal but the raw flower it came from is not. These laws look at the physical form of the product, not at its chemistry. Dried hemp buds look the same as drug cannabis, so lawmakers often treat them as drug cannabis.
This two-part article answers one question, country by country. Can whole dried hemp flower be legally imported? Here âflowerâ means the inflorescence, the bud cluster. That is a separate question from oil, isolate (purified CBD powder) or extract.
Part 1 covers three things: the three layers of law, the THC testing problem, and Europe. Part 2 covers the United Kingdom, the United States, Asia-Pacific, the Thai side and customs codes.
| Market | Can raw flower be imported? | THC limit | How THC is measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | Yes | below 1.0% | total THC |
| France | Yes | 0.3% | official EU method (gas chromatography; gives total THC in practice) |
| Germany | Between businesses only | 0.3% | THC content (§1 of Germanyâs Cannabis Act, KCanG) |
| Czech Republic | Only for use inside the Czech Republic | 1.0% | THC in dry matter |
| Poland | Grey zone | 0.3% | Î9-THC plus THCA, dry matter |
| Austria | Smokable forms only as tobacco goods | 0.3% | â |
| Italy, Spain | No | â | â |
| United Kingdom | No | any THC (the plant part itself is controlled) | â |
| United States | No in practice | 0.3% | total THC including THCA |
| Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore | No | â | â |
âTotal THCâ counts the active THC and its raw acid form together. Section 2 explains this. âDry matterâ means the percentage is calculated on the weight of the dried plant material.
Translatorâs note: Most readers of this forum grow inside Thailand and never export. This article still matters if a foreign buyer asks you for âCBD flowerâ, or if you are planning a licensed export business. Use the table as a first filter. If the destination says âNoâ, stop there and look at the extract route instead (Part 2, section 4).
1. Three layers of law, and each one can stop a shipment
Hemp flower falls under three separate bodies of law. Passing one tells you nothing about the other two.
- Narcotics and plant-part law decides whether the flower counts as a controlled part of the plant at all.
- Food law decides whether CBD may be eaten or swallowed. In the European Union this is the Novel Food Regulation, which requires approval before a new kind of food can be sold.
- Tobacco and smoking-product law decides whether a smokable form may be sold, and who may sell it.
Countries block flower through different layers. Austriaâs restriction comes from tobacco law. Franceâs came from narcotics law. The United Kingdomâs comes from plant-part law.
A seller who says âCBD is legal hereâ has usually checked only one layer. The other two can still stop the shipment.
What to do: Before you agree to a flower deal, ask the buyer to set out, in writing, their countryâs rule under each of the three layers. You find out before harvest whether the shipment can enter at all. You also see which layer the buyer has not checked.
2. The testing problem that comes before everything else
Some countries do allow flower. Even there, the THC figure on your lab report has to match what the destinationâs own lab will find. Two forms of THC matter:
- Î9-THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is the form that makes people high.
- THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) is the raw acid form in the living plant, and it does not make people high. Heat turns THCA into Î9-THC. This process is called decarboxylation.
Total THC is the two added together.
How the European Union tests
The official EU method is gas chromatography (GC). This lab test vaporises the sample in a hot injector at around 300 °C. The heat turns most of the THCA into Î9-THC, though not always all of it. So in practice, the EUâs âÎ9-THC contentâ is a total-THC reading.
Dussy and colleagues at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Basel, Switzerland, measured this conversion. Under the best test conditions, about 70% of the THCA became Î9-THC. The full reference is at the end of this part.
Here is what that means for a real certificate of analysis, the lab report that comes with a batch. Suppose your lab used HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography). HPLC runs without high heat, so it reports THCA and Î9-THC separately. Your certificate shows 0.2% Î9-THC and 1.8% THCA.
At an EU border, the hot GC test turns much of that 1.8% THCA into Î9-THC. The border lab therefore reads the shipment as far above 0.2%. The certificate was accurate, but it measured something different from what the border measures.
The United States is switching to the same approach
A new US definition of hemp was due to take effect on 12 November 2026. A stopgap funding law signed in September 2026 (H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027) moved the main changes for naturally derived products to 11 December 2026. Congress may move the date again. From that date, hemp will be defined by total THC including THCA, at 0.3% of dry weight. Finished hemp-derived products will be capped at 0.4 mg total THC per container.
The change comes from an amendment to the hemp definition in the US budget law for fiscal year 2026. That law is Public Law 119-37, Division B, §781, enacted 12 November 2025. It ends the trade in high-THCA flower sold as âhempâ. It also brings the US test into line with the EUâs.
What to do:
- Plan the crop around total THC, not the Î9-THC figure. A crop that passes on Î9-THC alone can still fail at the border.
- Ask your lab for a report that lists Î9-THC, THCA and total THC separately. You then see the number the border lab will see.
- Test a small trial batch first. Take samples from plants at the same ripeness you would ship. This tells you whether the variety stays under the limit before you commit a whole crop to an export buyer.
3. Europe, country by country
Switzerland: the clearest yes
Switzerland gives the clearest permission in the Western world. Cannabis with an average total THC content below 1.0% falls outside the Swiss Narcotics Act. It needs no operating licence.
Switzerlandâs Federal Supreme Court, the countryâs highest court, has confirmed that importing flower under that limit is legal. This is reported in the CMS expert guide, a legal guide published by the international law firm CMS.
Two features make Switzerland workable. The limit is high, and the law already states it as total THC. A generous number is not cancelled out by a strict test method.
A public consultation on a new Cannabis Products Act ran from August to December 2025. The rules may change, so check the current position again before every shipment.
France: yes, after court cases
France now allows raw flower, but only after court cases. An order (arrĂȘtĂ©) of 30 December 2021 allowed hemp below 0.30% THC. The same decree banned the sale of raw flowers and leaves to consumers.
The Conseil dâĂtat, Franceâs highest administrative court, suspended that ban in January 2022. On 29 December 2022 it cancelled the ban outright and ruled that the ban was not justified. Seller guides that still describe France as âisolate onlyâ are out of date.
Italy: closed
Italy now bans hemp flower. The ban started as Article 18 of Decree-Law 48/2025, a temporary government decree. Law No. 80 of 9 June 2025 made it permanent, after the Senateâs final vote on 4 June.
The law was published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale, Italyâs official journal, on 9 June 2025. It took effect on 10 June.
The law amended Italyâs hemp law, Law 242/2016. For hemp flowers in any form, it now prohibits import, transfer, processing, distribution, trade, transport, dispatch and delivery. The ban also covers extracts, resins and oils made from the flowers.
Breaking the ban carries the criminal penalties of Italyâs drug law (Title VIII of Presidential Decree 309/90). Growing hemp for fibre, seed, cosmetics and food is still legal.
The ban is being challenged in court. In November 2025 the Consiglio di Stato, Italyâs highest administrative court, referred it to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The court will decide whether the ban breaks Articles 34â36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the articles on free movement of goods. Several Italian courts have also raised constitutional challenges. Until a court rules, the ban stays in force.
Germany: between businesses only
Germanyâs Cannabis Act (KCanG) has been in force since 1 April 2024. Section 1 No. 8 defines cannabis and leaves out industrial hemp (Nutzhanf). Section 1 No. 9 says material counts as industrial hemp only if it meets two conditions:
- The material: plants, flowers and other plant parts with no more than 0.3% THC, or plants grown from certified seed listed in the EU variety catalogue.
- The purpose: any trade in it, other than growing it, must serve only commercial or scientific purposes that rule out use for getting high.
German prosecutors use the purpose condition against CBD flower sold to consumers. In practice, one business importing hemp material from another (business-to-business) works. Selling the flower to consumers is disputed, and sellers are prosecuted.
Czech Republic: generous at home, risky next door
The Czech Republic sets its limit at 1.0% THC in dry matter, one of the most generous limits in the EU. The danger is at the border. Material that is legal in Czechia at 1% can be seized once it enters Germany or Poland (limit 0.3%).
This seizure risk links to the CBD intake limit set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and to the gap between that limit and Czech law. A separate forum article on that topic still needs to be written.
Austria: smokable hemp is a tobacco product
Austria closed this route through tax law. In case Ro 2024/16/0006, Austriaâs Supreme Administrative Court (VwGH) ruled that dried hemp flowers with no more than 0.3% THC are subject to tobacco tax, because they are suitable for smoking and usually smoked. The Ministry of Finance concludes that they also fall under the state tobacco monopoly, so only licensed tobacconists (Trafiken) may sell them. A later Federal Finance Court decision questioned how far the ruling covers the monopoly, so that point is still disputed.
Oils, creams and other non-smokable forms are not affected. This comes from guidance by WKO, the Austrian Economic Chamber.
Poland: grey zone
On 24 March 2022 Poland amended its Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction. The amendment was published in Polandâs official journal as Dz.U. 2022 item 763. Fibre hemp is now defined by 0.3% Î9-THC plus THCA in the flowering or fruiting tops, by dry weight.
Selling dried flower in shops is a legal grey zone. Marketing it as a smoking product is prohibited.
Spain: no clear permission
Spain gives no clear permission. Growing hemp to extract cannabinoids needs authorisation from AEMPS, Spainâs medicines agency, whatever the THC level. Only seed, fibre and mature stem may be traded as food ingredients.
CBD has not been authorised as a novel food, so it cannot be sold as food in Spain. Some shops sell flower labelled âcollectorâs item, not for human consumptionâ. That label is a sales tactic. It gives the product no legal standing.
European Union level: one court ruling that is often misread
On 19 November 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in the case known as Kanavape. It held that CBD legally produced in one EU member state is not a narcotic. However, the case was about CBD extract, not raw flower. The ruling also lets member states restrict CBD to protect public health.
So Kanavape does not mean hemp flower can move freely within the EU.
What to do with the European picture
- Shortlist Switzerland first. It is the only clear destination. France and business buyers in Germany are possible, but only under conditions.
- For France or Germany, ask the importer for a written opinion from a local lawyer before you ship. It tells you whether the buyerâs resale plan (to consumers or to other businesses) is the legal kind.
- Rule out Italy and Spain for flower. Treat Czechia as a market only for material that stays inside Czechia.
- Keep a dated record of the rule you relied on for each country. Several of these laws are changing, and the record shows what you checked and when.
Translatorâs note: Shipping to Switzerland or France still starts in Thailand, where cannabis flower is a controlled herb. Part 2 explains what that means for a Thai farm before any shipment leaves.
References for Part 1
- Dussy FE, Hamberg C, LuginbĂŒhl M, Schwerzmann T, Briellmann TA. âIsolation of Î9-THCA-A from hemp and analytical aspects concerning the determination of Î9-THC in cannabis productsâ. Forensic Science International, 2005;149(1):3â10.
- United States: fiscal year 2026 appropriations act, Public Law 119-37, Division B, §781 (enacted 12 November 2025); H.R. 6500, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 (signed September 2026).
- Switzerland: CMS expert guide (Federal Supreme Court position on flower below 1.0% total THC).
- France: order (arrĂȘtĂ©) of 30 December 2021; Conseil dâĂtat, suspension January 2022 and annulment 29 December 2022.
- Italy: Decree-Law 48/2025, Article 18; Law No. 80 of 9 June 2025; Law 242/2016; Presidential Decree 309/90, Title VIII.
- Germany: Cannabis Act (KCanG), §1 No. 8 and No. 9.
- Austria: administrative court ruling Ro 2024/16/0006; WKO guidance.
- Poland: amendment of 24 March 2022 to the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction (Dz.U. 2022 item 763).
- Spain: Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) information note on hemp cultivation.
- Court of Justice of the European Union: Kanavape judgment, 19 November 2020.
Share what you know
Have you had a buyer in Switzerland, France or Germany ask for hemp flower? Post below which test method their lab used, and whether your certificate matched their result.
This article is reference information for readers operating legally in their own jurisdictions. It is not legal or customs advice. Several of these markets are changing. Italyâs ban is before the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Italian Constitutional Court. Swiss law has been under consultation. Check with the competent authority and a qualified local lawyer before shipping.
Continued in Part 2: Raw CBD Flower Versus Extract: United Kingdom, United States, Asia-Pacific and the Thai Side (Part 2 of 2)