A CBD parcel from abroad: what French customs checks

The French framework comes from the order of 30 December 2021, made under article R5132-86 of the Public Health Code. It authorises the cultivation, import, export and industrial and commercial use of Cannabis sativa L. varieties with no more than 0.30% Δ⁹-THC. These varieties must appear in the EU catalogue or the official French catalogue.

The order also banned selling raw flowers and leaves to consumers, but the Conseil d'État, France's highest administrative court, struck down that ban on 29 December 2022 (decision no. 444887). The rest of the order, including the limit, remains in force. What the limit covers is explained in our article on the legal THC level.

In principle, a compliant parcel goes through without trouble. Above the limit, it comes under narcotics law, even when the product is legal in the country it left. Three questions decide its fate, summed up in the chart below.

A common belief is that a parcel sent within the EU escapes customs, which is wrong. On its page about restricted and prohibited goods, French customs states that it can check, inside the country, the movement and possession of certain goods, narcotics among them. A parcel sent from Spain can therefore be opened on arrival or in transit.

What the EU border changes is formalities and taxes.

Since 1 July 2021, every online purchase shipped from a non-EU country is subject to VAT, whatever its value, and each parcel requires an electronic declaration. Switzerland, often chosen for its flowers, is a non-EU country; our comparison of France and Switzerland sets out its rules.

The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 19 November 2020 (case C-663/18) is often described as a free pass. According to the Court's press release, a member state cannot ban the marketing of CBD lawfully produced in another member state. This holds when the CBD is extracted from the whole plant, and not only from fibre and seeds. A ban is still possible if it protects public health without going further than necessary. Our article on the Kanavape ruling tells the story of the decision.

Three limits follow:

• only CBD produced in a member state is protected, so CBD from Switzerland, the UK or the United States is outside its scope;
• the ruling concerns cannabidiol, and a product whose THC exceeds the French limit falls outside it;
• food law still applies.

That last point weighs on oils, gummies and capsules. In a notice of 20 May 2026, the French Ministry of Agriculture recalls that foods containing CBD are not authorised under the EU novel food regulation. They must be withdrawn from the market, online sales included. Our update on CBD regulation in 2026 follows the file.

Any text that still cites article 414 of the Customs Code is out of date. Ordinance no. 2026-265 of 8 April 2026 rewrote the legislative part of the code, with effect from 1 May 2026.

• Article L513-1 punishes smuggling and undeclared import of prohibited goods: three years in prison and a fine equal to twice the value of the goods.
• Article L513-3 raises these penalties to ten years and ten times the value when the goods endanger public health.
• Decree no. 2026-266 of the same day created article R513-1, which places plants, substances and preparations classed as narcotics in that category.

The Criminal Code applies on top: its article 222-36 punishes the illegal import of narcotics with ten years in prison and a fine of 7,500,000 euros. These are maximum penalties designed for trafficking, and a private parcel does not usually meet that fate. A flower above the limit is nonetheless more than a simple compliance dispute.

In an alert titled "CBD: when the label hides dangerous substances", French customs describes products sold as CBD that were laced with synthetic cannabinoids, sometimes sprayed onto flowers. According to customs, 1,591 cases in 2024 involved synthetic drugs, 87% of them in express and postal freight, with 3.08 tonnes seized, up 27%.

An online order travels precisely by postal freight. With an unknown seller, what is in the bag should worry you before the risk of seizure does. Our article on synthetic cannabinoids describes these products. The guide to reading a certificate of analysis shows which lines to check: batch number, Δ⁹-THC, cannabinoids tested. Our laboratory page lists the catalogue products.

According to the 2025 results presented by the ministry, French customs seized 108.81 tonnes of drugs on French territory in 2025, 67.73 tonnes of it cannabis. Seizures of synthetic drugs reached 5.79 tonnes, 88% more than a year earlier.

Counting all services, the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addictive Behaviours (OFDT) records 101 tonnes of cannabis seized in France in 2024, 19% less than a year earlier. Its note also reports 2.3 tonnes of cannabis herb intercepted from the United States in 2024 (against 1.2 tonnes in 2022) and 1.8 tonnes from Thailand. Most of these shipments came by air, as freight or with passengers. Our guide to travelling with CBD rests on the same logic.