CBD in Belgium in 2026: same 0.3% limit, different bans

The 0.2% figure is still quoted, though it is out of date. Belgium's Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP, AFMPS in French) addresses it in its cannabis FAQ. Products with less than 0.3% THC and THCA come under the Federal Public Service for Public Health, and the agency does not handle them. THCA is the acid form of THC, which heat converts into THC.

The 0.2% figure was the former ceiling for EU farm subsidies. According to the European Commission today, cultivated hemp varieties must contain less than 0.3% THC to qualify for CAP support.

France's order of 30 December 2021 sets the same ceiling, 0.30% Δ⁹-THC, with a condition people often overlook: the variety must appear in the EU catalogue or the official French catalogue. What the limit covers is explained in our article on the legal THC level in France, and our article on the EU catalogue of varieties shows how to read that catalogue.

The two countries share the limit and differ on what they ban. The table summarises the texts cited below, as checked in September 2026.

The Federal Public Service for Public Health and the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA) have published a Q&A on hemp in food, in a version dated February 2025. Its wording leaves no room for doubt: CBD and its extracts cannot be authorised "in any form" as a food or food supplement, even when the plants are below 0.3% THC. CBD oil may not be sold, and the document specifies that online trade is banned as well.

The ban follows from novel food status. A food counts as "novel" when it was not eaten to a significant degree in the EU before 15 May 1997, and it then requires EU authorisation. The Belgian document makes three further points:

• the status applies whatever the extraction method and however much the extract is diluted in oil;
• synthetic CBD, CBG and HHC are also novel foods, unless they are already classed as narcotics or medicines;
• the flowers fall outside the legal definition of a food, since they are on the international convention's list of psychotropic substances.

Two rules of method close the loopholes. A "not for consumption" label does not help when the presentation or composition suggests the product is to be ingested, so a CBD sweet remains a food. If a product could be either a food or a cosmetic, it is classed as a food.

Leaves are where Belgium and France really part ways. The Belgian document accepts that hemp leaf tea is not a novel food, yet Belgium maintains the ban until harmonised EU standards exist. In France, a notice published on 20 May 2026 by the Ministry of Agriculture puts leaves intended only for infusion on the list of products that may be sold. The condition is that no cannabinoid extract is added. On everything else the two countries end up in the same place, as our update on CBD regulation in 2026 describes.

Belgium classes a hemp flower for smoking as a herbal smoking product, in the same category as tobacco-free herb blends. These products are governed by a royal decree of 3 March 2024, amended by a royal decree of 28 October 2024 that has applied since 1 January 2025.

The conditions are summarised by the FAMHP on its page about other cannabis-based products, updated on 2 February 2026:

• THC must remain below 0.3%;
• the product has to be notified before it is placed on the Belgian market;
• the label must carry the required health warnings and no therapeutic indication;
• excise duties are due, as for tobacco.

Among the banned claims, the agency cites "analgesic", "relieves stress" and "promotes sleep". Sale is restricted to products on the positive list, which anyone can search through a public search engine.

In France, raw flowers reached the market through the courts. The 2021 order banned their sale, and the Conseil d'État, France's highest administrative court, struck that ban down in its decision no. 444887 of 29 December 2022. It found no proof that flowers below the limit carried a risk that would justify a general and absolute prohibition.

On vaping, the same FAMHP page is explicit: CBD-based products used as e-cigarette liquids are banned. CBD e-liquids are still sold in France, where the ban targeted the disposable format, as our article on the ban on disposable vapes explains.

For cosmetics, the FAMHP checks the origin of the CBD. Extracts of flowering tops may not be used in cosmetics. CBD obtained from stems and leaves, with no flowers, is permitted, as is synthetic CBD. A Belgian CBD balm therefore has to be able to show which part of the plant it comes from.

The Federal Public Service for Public Health issued a warning on 5 May 2026 under the title "CBD in food: banned in Europe and a health concern". The text restates EFSA's provisional safe level of 2 mg a day for an adult of 70 kg. It also refers to the opinion of ECHA's Committee for Risk Assessment, which considers that CBD may damage fertility, harm the unborn child and harm breastfed babies.

ANSES, the French health agency, filed that classification proposal, which our article on classifying CBD as toxic for reproduction covers. The Belgian text advises pregnant or breastfeeding women and children not to use CBD.

The Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its Kanavape ruling of 19 November 2020. It held that a member state cannot ban the marketing of CBD lawfully produced in another member state when that CBD is extracted from the whole plant. A ban is possible only if the state shows a public health risk, and it must not go beyond what is necessary. Our article on the Kanavape ruling follows its consequences.

For travellers, this leaves three practical limits:

• the product has to comply with French rules (0.30% and a catalogue-listed variety), and a Belgian receipt proves neither;
• an oil to swallow bought in Belgium is banned from sale there already, and in France as well;
• no personal-use allowance has been set.

During a check, the product is what gets examined, wherever you bought it. Keeping the batch certificate of analysis at least documents its THC level. Our guides on receiving a CBD parcel from abroad and travelling with CBD cover the rest. For other neighbouring countries, see Spain, Switzerland and Germany.