What Can Actually Leave Thailand as Hemp: Seed, Fibre, Cosmetics, Food, Export Papers and a Product Shortlist (Part 2 of 2)

🏭 Hemp & Industrial Cannabis Hemp Products & Processing
1

Since 26 June 2025, cannabis flower has been a controlled herb in Thailand whatever its THC content, under the Notification of the Ministry of Public Health Re: Controlled Herbs (Cannabis), B.E. 2568. Flower can leave Thailand only through a licensed medical channel. A hemp business that wants to export as an ordinary trade therefore has to look at the other parts and products of the plant.

This part covers those products: seed, fibre and stalk, cosmetics and food. It also explains customs codes and the basic export papers, and ends with a shortlist of products ranked by how hard they are to get through the rules. Extracts at or below 0.2% THC, the product Thailand has deregulated, are covered in Part 1.

This is Part 2. Part 1: What Can Actually Leave Thailand as Hemp: Extracts, Seed, Fibre and Cosmetics

4. Seed, fibre and mature stalk

Most narcotics laws exclude these plant parts from their definition of cannabis. Three examples:

  • United Kingdom. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 exempts mature stalk, fibre from mature stalk, and seed.
  • Australia. Hemp seed is allowed in food. A 2018 customs approval also freed certain hemp seed and fibre products from import licence and permit requirements.
  • New Zealand. Stalk and seed are exempt, including hulled seed as food. Leaf and flower remain controlled.

For a Thai exporter, this is the product family with the fewest legal complications. The difficulties are ordinary business ones. Freight costs must be weighed against the low value per kilogram, and established fibre and seed producers abroad compete on price.

On the Thai side, these products do not go through narcotics licensing, and they are mainly not a Thai FDA (Food and Drug Administration) matter:

  • Seed generally needs a phytosanitary certificate from the Department of Agriculture (กรมวิชาการเกษตร). This is a plant-health certificate stating that the shipment was inspected and meets the importing country’s pest rules. Seed is also subject to Thai seed and plant-variety rules. Seed intended for planting may also fall under the conditions of the Ministerial Regulation on Hemp B.E. 2563 (2020).
  • Fibre and stalk generally follow normal customs and agricultural export procedures.

Confirm the exact permits for your product with the Department of Agriculture and the Customs Department before the first shipment.

At the EU end, hemp seed foods are not Novel Foods (section 7 explains the term), but they do have EU-wide THC limits. Regulation (EU) 2022/1393, applicable from 1 January 2023 and now carried into the consolidated contaminants Regulation (EU) 2023/915, sets maximum levels of Δ9-THC equivalents. “Δ9-THC equivalents” means THCA is counted as well as THC. The limits are:

Product Maximum Δ9-THC equivalents
Hemp seed and products made from seed 3.0 mg/kg
Hemp seed oil 7.5 mg/kg

South Korea’s Food Code sets reference values for hemp seed of THC ≤5 mg/kg and CBD ≤10 mg/kg, as reported by ChemLinked, a regulatory news service for Asian markets. The nutrition side of hemp seed is covered in Hemp Seed: All Nine Essential Amino Acids, Lysine Limiting, and What Thai Food Law Requires.

Translator’s note: Seed picks up resin from the flower during harvest and threshing. That residue is a common reason seed fails a strict THC limit such as the EU’s 3.0 mg/kg. In Thailand’s rainy season, damp seed can also develop mould, which can cause problems at a phytosanitary inspection. Clean and dry the seed well, then test one lot before you sign a contract.

What to do: send one cleaned seed lot to a laboratory for a Δ9-THC-equivalent result in mg/kg, and compare it with the limit in your target market before you quote a price.

5. Customs codes and the basic export papers

Every exported product must be declared under a customs code. This is the HS code (Harmonized System), an international numbering system for goods. The first six digits are shared by almost every country; Thailand and the importing country add further digits for their own tariffs.

The code matters for two reasons. It decides the import duty and the permits the destination will ask for. A code that does not match the product description is also a common reason for a shipment to be held.

Seed, oil, fibre, stalk, extract and cosmetics each fall under different headings. For example, true hemp fibre, raw or processed but not spun, falls under heading 5302. Hemp seed is commonly declared under subheading 1207.99 and hemp seed oil under 1515.90. Do not copy a code from another seller’s invoice. Look the product up in the Thai customs tariff and confirm the code with the Customs Department before the first shipment. Thai Customs issues written advance rulings on tariff classification. You apply online through the Customs Department website or at its tariff classification office, and a ruling is valid for three years.

A basic set of export papers for a hemp product usually includes:

  • commercial invoice – what is sold, quantity, price, buyer and seller, with the HS code
  • packing list – how the goods are packed, weights and package numbers
  • export declaration – filed with Thai Customs
  • phytosanitary certificate – from the Department of Agriculture, for seed and other raw plant material
  • certificate of analysis – for any product where the buyer or the border checks THC or CBD content
  • certificate of origin – if the buyer wants to claim a lower tariff under a trade agreement
  • any permit the Thai FDA or the destination requires for the product category (see Part 1 for extracts)

Use the same product name and the same HS code on every document. Payment, transit countries and the full document flow for licensed cannabis exports are covered in Getting Paid for a Licensed Cannabis Export from Thailand and Getting a Licensed Cannabis Export from Thailand to the Buyer.

What to do: for each product, write one line with its name, HS code and the papers it needs. Confirm that line with the Customs Department and the Department of Agriculture, then make a small trial shipment before a full order.

6. Cosmetics

Thailand permits four categories of cannabis- and hemp-derived ingredient in cosmetics made by Thai manufacturers, provided the finished product contains no more than 0.2% THC by weight. ChemLinked lists them as: hemp seed oil or seed extract; non-flower plant parts (bark, stem, fibre, branch, root and leaf) and hemp seed; CBD extract, where imported or synthetic CBD is not allowed; and terpenes from cannabis or hemp.

The EU

Cosmetics in the EU are governed by Regulation (EC) 1223/2009. CBD is not banned as such. However, Annex II, entry 306 bans narcotics listed in the Single Convention, the UN drug treaty of 1961. As a result:

  • CBD in extracts, resins or tinctures made from the flowering tops is prohibited
  • synthetic CBD, or CBD from leaves and seeds without flowering tops, is not

In 2026 the SCCS (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety, the EU’s scientific advisers on cosmetic safety) concluded that CBD is safe up to 0.19% in cosmetic products, with THC as an impurity up to 0.00025%. These are proposed reference levels. No binding limit has yet been written into the Regulation.

The EU label is a separate job from the Thai label:

  • Ingredients must be listed under INCI names (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, the standard ingredient names), for example Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil or Cannabidiol.
  • A manufacturer outside the EU needs a Responsible Person established in the EU. This is the company that takes legal responsibility for the product in the EU, and its name and address must appear on the label.
  • Mandatory text must be in the language or languages each member state requires. Selling in several countries usually means multilingual or country-specific labels.

Asia

Asian markets are much stricter than the EU, and the numbers are often underestimated:

  • Japan. The amended Cannabis Control Act took effect on 12 December 2024. The old rule allowed only products made from mature stalk or seed; the new rule tests THC content instead. Residual THC limits are 10 ppm for oils and powders, 1 ppm for solids and viscous products including cosmetics, and 0.1 ppm for water-based solutions.
  • China. Cannabis-derived cosmetic ingredients were banned from 28 May 2021. CBD went onto the list of prohibited ingredients. Cannabis sativa leaf extract, fruit and seed oil went onto the list of prohibited plant ingredients. This is not a stricter limit, as in Japan; it is a ban.

Japan’s ppm limits are 100 to 10,000 times lower than a 0.2% THC specification (0.2% equals 2,000 ppm). A cosmetic made to Thai limits does not automatically pass in Japan.

What to do: choose the destination before you write the formula. Formulate to that country’s limit, and have the finished product tested against it.

7. Food, and why CBD food is blocked in the EU

In the EU, a Novel Food is a food or ingredient that was not commonly eaten in the EU before the cut-off date set by the Novel Food rules. It must pass a safety assessment and receive authorisation before it can be sold. CBD in food needs this authorisation, and none has been granted.

EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority) has set a provisional safe intake of about 2 mg of CBD a day for an adult. That is far below what most CBD foods deliver.

Two further EU rules apply to any food label:

  • the Food Information to Consumers Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 sets what the label must show
  • any health claim falls under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006

A smokable product is not a food at all. That is why countries restrict smokable flower through narcotics or tobacco law instead. Examples:

  • Italy – under its 2025 security decree (Decree-Law 48/2025, converted by Law 80/2025)
  • Austria – through tobacco law
  • United Kingdom – under the Misuse of Drugs Act

What to do: do not plan an EU launch of a CBD food or supplement on the expectation that authorisation is coming soon. If your product is food, start with hemp seed products, which are not Novel Foods.

8. A realistic product shortlist for a Thai hemp business

The list below is ranked by how hard each product is to get through the rules, not by profit margin. The easiest comes first.

  1. Hemp seed, hulled seed and seed oil for food. The cleanest route, provided the product meets the EU limits of 3.0 and 7.5 mg/kg, or the equivalent in the destination country.
  2. Fibre, hurd (the woody core of the stalk) and raw material for hempcrete. There is no cannabinoid question at all. The limit is freight cost. See Hempcrete: What the Numbers Say.
  3. CBD extract and isolate within Thailand’s 0.2% extract threshold. Specify it to buyers as ≤0.2% total THC, and sell it as a cosmetic ingredient or a business-to-business raw material. It is released from narcotics control in Thailand but still under Thai FDA product law. At the destination, the question is cosmetics or food law, not narcotics law.
  4. Finished cosmetics. Workable, but formulate to the destination’s rule. Japan sets residual THC limits in ppm; China bans cannabis-derived cosmetic ingredients outright.
  5. CBD foods and supplements for the EU. Currently blocked by the Novel Food requirement. Do not build a launch plan around an authorisation arriving soon.
  6. Raw hemp flower. Controlled at the Thai end since June 2025, and banned or restricted in many destination countries. See Controlled Herb vs Category 5 Narcotic: Thailand’s 0.2% and 1.0% THC Lines, and Raw CBD Flower Versus Extract for how destination markets treat it.

Translator’s note: For a small Thai grower, the first two items need the least capital and no special licence beyond normal agricultural and export paperwork. Start with one product and one destination, ship a small trial lot, and record which documents were requested. That record tells you more about a market than any summary.

What to do: pick one product from the top three, one destination, and run one trial shipment. Note every document that was asked for and every delay.

Share your experience below this topic. If you sell hemp seed, fibre or extract out of Thailand, which destination has caused the least trouble? We do not mean the most profitable one. We mean the one where documents were accepted the first time and no shipment was held. That figure is the most useful one when planning a second market, and it is not published anywhere.

Related reading on Asiannabis

Sources

This article is reference information for readers operating legally in their own jurisdictions. It is not legal, customs, food-safety or tax advice. Food, cosmetics and narcotics law differ in every market named here and change quickly. Check with the competent authority and a qualified specialist before formulating, labelling or shipping.

Asiannabis Library: Pests, Harvest, Processing and Testing