Reference · dated & sourced
Can you sell CBD here? The per-market tracker
Ingestibles, topicals, vape and flower — what each market currently allows, with the key rule, a named source and an “as of” date on every card. Built from the same regulation knowledge base our claim-risk scanner runs on.
United Kingdom
Restricted- Ingestibles (oils, gummies, capsules)
- Lawful only via the FSA Public List (Novel Food). The list has been closed to NEW ingestible CBD products since 2024, and 100+ products were removed in Feb 2025.
- Topicals (balms, skincare)
- Topicals remain lawful under UK/EU cosmetics rules.
- Vape / e-liquid
- CBD vape/e-liquid is sellable but regulated as a vaping product — Vaping Products Duty (£2.20/10ml from Oct 2026) + packaging duty stamps + TPD-style consumer rules; keep controlled cannabinoids ≤1 mg per container.
- Flower (smokable)
- Smokable CBD/hemp FLOWER is effectively not sellable in the UK — raw flower isn't an exempt product and smokable hemp is treated with suspicion; sell processed products, not flower.
- Key rule
- FSA precautionary intake: 10 mg CBD/day for healthy adults; THC ≤1 mg per container. There is no such thing as 'FSA approved' — only Validated / Awaiting evidence.
As of 2024–2025 · Source: UK FSA — CBD business guidance
Germany
Restricted- Ingestibles (oils, gummies, capsules)
- CBD food sits in the EU Novel Food regime (no authorised ingestibles). Cannabis-adjacent marketing is restricted under the Cannabis Act (KCanG §36(5)).
- Topicals (balms, skincare)
- Topicals remain lawful under EU cosmetics rules.
- Vape / e-liquid
- CBD vape/e-liquid sits under the EU TPD + German rules — sellable but regulated.
- Flower (smokable)
- Germany is comparatively permissive on CBD flower (finished products ≤0.2% THC), but flower still carries legal risk under cannabis/consumer rules — check per-batch THC.
- Key rule
- KCanG §36(5): up to €30,000 fine for cannabis advertising. Paid B2C ad channels are effectively closed in DE → organic/SEO is the only durable route.
As of 2024+ · Source: DE KCanG (Cannabis Act)
France
Banned (ingestibles)- Ingestibles (oils, gummies, capsules)
- Ingestible CBD (oils, gummies, capsules) is BANNED in France from 15 May 2026. DGCCRF withdraws non-compliant SKUs and pursues DTC sellers shipping into France from abroad.
- Topicals (balms, skincare)
- Topicals (balms, skincare) remain a lawful route into France under EU Cosmetics Reg 1223/2009.
- Vape / e-liquid
- CBD vape/e-liquid sits under the EU TPD + French vaping rules — sellable but regulated; verify current French terms.
- Flower (smokable)
- CBD FLOWER for smoking/infusion is restricted/effectively barred in France — one of the EU's strictest markets on flower.
- Key rule
- 15 May 2026 ingestible ban, enforced by DGCCRF with seizures + fines — cross-border DTC into France is covered regardless of origin country.
As of 15 May 2026 · Source: FR DGCCRF
Other EU
Under review- Ingestibles (oils, gummies, capsules)
- No ingested CBD product is authorised as a Novel Food anywhere in the EU; sold only under transitional arrangements pending an EFSA safety opinion.
- Topicals (balms, skincare)
- Topicals remain lawful under the EU Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009.
- Vape / e-liquid
- CBD vape/e-liquid falls under the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) + national limits; from Feb 2027 non-replaceable-battery devices are barred. Verify the specific market.
- Flower (smokable)
- CBD flower rules vary sharply by member state — from comparatively permissive to effectively barred. Verify the specific market before selling flower.
- Key rule
- EFSA set a provisional intake limit of 2 mg CBD/day (Sept 2025); zero ingested products authorised as of 2026.
As of Sept 2025 · Source: EFSA — Novel Food / CBD safety
Sellability awareness, not legal advice. Rules shift — every card is dated; verify current with the named regulator before acting.
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Regulation tracker — common questions
- How current is this tracker?
- Each card carries its own 'as of' date and named source — we never show an undated rule. The underlying regulation knowledge base drives our claim-risk scanner, so when a rule shifts (like France's 15 May 2026 ingestible ban) the KB, the scanner and this page update together.
- Is this legal advice?
- No — it's a sellability awareness snapshot built from named regulator sources. Rules shift and edge cases abound; verify with the regulator or a lawyer in your market before acting.
- Why do some markets show only an EU baseline?
- Because we haven't individually curated them yet — and we'd rather say that than guess. Curated markets (UK, Germany, France) cite their national regulators; the rest inherit the honest EU Novel Food baseline until their file lands.
- Does my store comply with these rules?
- That's exactly what the free scan checks: it reads your actual product pages against the regulators for the markets you sell into and flags risky wording with safer rewrites — per page, not in the abstract.
Does YOUR store's wording pass these rules?
The free scan reads your product pages against the regulators for the markets you sell into — risky wording flagged with safer rewrites, plus SEO and AI-search leaks.
Or test a draft first with the free claim checker.