CBD in Belgium: the 2026 legal framework compared with France

Contrary to what is often read, Belgium does not apply 0.2 %. The Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products states in its cannabis FAQ that products whose Δ⁹-THC and THCA content does not exceed 0.3 % fall outside its remit. They come under the FPS Public Health. The figure of 0.2 % is still circulating because it corresponds to the old European agronomic ceiling, raised to 0.3 % with effect from 1 January 2023.

On the French side, the 0.3 % threshold appears in the order of 30 December 2021, with an additional condition that is often forgotten: the variety must be listed in the European catalogue or the official French catalogue. Our article on the legal THC level in France sets out exactly what that limit covers.

The FPS Public Health and the AFSCA have published a joint questions-and-answers document on the use of hemp and cannabinoids in foodstuffs. In its February 2025 version, that document states that CBD and CBD extracts cannot be placed on the market in any form as a food or food supplement, including where they come from plants complying with the 0.3 % threshold.

The reason is novel food status: CBD has no significant history of consumption in the Union before 15 May 1997, which triggers the Novel Food regulation. The document specifies that this status applies whatever the extraction process and whatever the degree of dilution, and that it extends to synthetic CBD, to CBG and to HHC. It adds that hemp flowers do not meet the legal definition of a food, which bears directly on infusions.

Two points of method follow. A "not intended for consumption" mention is not enough to escape classification as a food if the presentation suggests ingestion. And where there is ambiguity between food and cosmetic, the food classification prevails. France reached the same result by another route, described in our review of CBD and the Novel Food regulation.

In Belgium, a hemp flower intended to be smoked is not in a legal vacuum: it falls under herbal products for smoking, governed by a royal decree of 3 March 2024 which came into force on 1 January 2025. On its page devoted to the regulation of herbal products for smoking, the FPS Public Health describes a prior notification procedure. The manufacturer or importer submits the full list of ingredients with their quantities, by brand and by type, along with the label. Only products appearing on the positive list may be marketed.

For products presented as "CBD", the administration requires the notification file to include a THC certificate of analysis, with a content below 0.3 %. Failing that, the product is classed as a narcotic and banned from sale. The labelling may carry no claim of a health benefit.

In France, the sale of raw flowers and leaves followed a judicial rather than an administrative route. By its decision no. 444887 of 29 December 2022, the Conseil d'État annulled section II of article 1 of the order of 30 December 2021, which prohibited that sale. It held that it had not been established that these flowers pose risks to public health justifying a general and absolute ban.

On 5 May 2026, the FPS Public Health published a warning entitled "CBD in food: banned in Europe and a cause for health concern". Two elements are recalled in it: the provisionally safe level adopted by EFSA, of 2 mg per day for an adult of 70 kg, and the opinion of ECHA's risk assessment committee proposing to classify CBD as toxic for reproduction.

That second piece of information bears directly on the French market: the classification proposal was brought by ANSES, and we covered it in our article on the classification of CBD as toxic for reproduction. It explains part of the tightening seen on both sides of the border regarding forms meant to be swallowed.

The Court of Justice of the European Union held, in its Kanavape judgment of 19 November 2020, that a member state cannot prohibit the marketing of CBD lawfully produced in another member state, unless it can show a sufficiently established risk to public health. The Court held there that CBD does not appear, in the current state of knowledge, to have psychotropic or harmful effects.

Three practical reservations remain. The French framework requires a variety listed in the catalogue, something a purchase in a Belgian shop generally does not document. Oils to be swallowed bought in Belgium are in any case prohibited from sale in Belgium itself, so there is no basis of legality to invoke. And no numerical customs tolerance exists for personal use. Our reference points on travelling with CBD gather what is documented. For neighbouring frameworks, see also Spain and Switzerland.