UK first to regulate market for oral cannabis extracts

Photo © iStockphoto.com/MysteryShot

The United Kingdom is now the first country to regulate the market for safe, orally consumed legal cannabis extracts. This follows the release of the Food Standards Agency’s public list of cannabinoid products that are permitted for sale to consumers—only these products are authorized for sale. Full authorization is expected in 2023.

“The FSA public list represents a major milestone for the UK’s CBD category,” said Steve Moore, founder of London-based Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI), in a press release. “It demonstrates the progress the sector has made to meet compliance requirements and creates greater regulatory certainty which, in turn, will increase levels of consumer trust, encourage investment in the sector, and promote innovation. ACI is immensely grateful for the work that our members and the FSA have put in to take this momentous step.”

CBD products on the FSA list have been undergoing assessment by the agency in a novel food process. This was open to any CBD product designed for oral consumption that was on sale in the UK on or before Feb. 13, 2020, with the deadline of March 31, 2020, for applications. Any product launched Feb. 13, 2020, or which was not the subject of a dossier submitted by the cut-off date, may not be sold until full authorization is granted.