CBD in Portugal in 2026: the law, shop seizures and the trip back to France

Law 30/2000 makes use, purchase and possession for your own consumption an administrative offence (contraordenação). The police seize the product and send the file to a Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction, which decides what happens next (articles 4 and 5). The law's yardstick is the average consumption of 10 days.

From 2008, however, a Supreme Court ruling treated possession above that yardstick as a crime, even for personal use (Julgar, 2024). Law 55/2023, published on 8 September 2023, set that reading aside (Diário da República, 2023). Acquiring or possessing for your own use remains an administrative offence whatever the quantity. Holding more than 10 days' consumption is only an indication of another purpose. If exclusively personal use is shown, the case is closed and referred to the dissuasion commission.

Growing for your own consumption remains a crime, punishable by up to three months in prison or a fine of up to 30 day-rates. Selling cannabis falls under the trafficking law, Decree-Law 15/93.

None of the Portuguese texts consulted expressly allows CBD to be sold to the general public. The authorities apply the rules on cannabis and on health products, and they read them narrowly.

On 11 November 2024, an Infarmed circular ordered one brand's CBD cosmetics off the market. It states that CBD, obtained by extraction from the plant, has no place in a cosmetic, whatever its THC content. The only substances spared by this rule are those taken from the seeds of plants with at most 0.2% THC (Infarmed, circular 096/CD/100.20.200).

On 26 November 2025, the Tax and Customs Authority (AT) passed Infarmed's opinion on to customs offices and traders. The framework in force prohibits marketing the cannabis plant, its extracts and its preparations, THC and CBD included, outside Decree-Law 8/2019. Only authorised medical preparations may be supplied. Cigarettes, e-cigarette liquids and tobacco-like products that contain them therefore cannot be sold (Autoridade Tributária, ofício-circulado 25091/2025).

ASAE, the Food and Economic Safety Authority, rules out CBD foods for its part. It states that selling foodstuffs containing CBD, food supplements included, is not allowed, because CBD is an unauthorised novel food (HealthNews, 9 May 2026).

Medical cannabis takes a separate route. Law 33/2018 set the framework for prescription and pharmacy dispensing, and Decree-Law 8/2019 regulated it (Infarmed, medical cannabis). Infarmed also supervises cultivation, manufacturing, imports and exports, and every preparation needs a marketing authorisation.

From 2 to 8 March 2026, the "Portugal Sempre Seguro" operation brought together eight agencies, including ASAE, the criminal investigation police and the tax authority. In 17 districts, ASAE inspected shops selling CBD products alongside other businesses (ASAE, 2026).

The results of another nationwide operation were published in early May 2026. ASAE checked 53 operators there, including herbalists, parapharmacies, supermarkets and websites. It seized 6,822 items: seeds, flowers, resin and pollen, but also gummies, chocolates and herbal teas. It opened 19 criminal cases, on suspicion of adulterated foodstuffs and drug trafficking, and 8 administrative cases.

On 7 August 2026, nine members of parliament from Iniciativa Liberal put a written question to the Minister of the Economy (Assembleia da República, question 2435/XVII/1). According to them, reports describe seizures in businesses that would be operating within the legal framework. They ask what legal grounds these seizures rest on. They also ask whether Infarmed, DGAV or ASAE gave instructions to the police, and how these actions respect European case law.

That case law points to the Kanavape judgment of 19 November 2020 (case C-663/18). The Court of Justice of the European Union held that a member state cannot ban the sale of CBD lawfully produced in another member state. An exception exists if the ban is necessary and proportionate to protect public health. Our article on the Kanavape ruling covers this decision in detail.

The government replied in a letter dated 25 August 2026, added to the parliamentary record on 13 October (Ministry of the Economy's reply). CBD foods cannot be sold, because they have no EU novel food authorisation. Cannabis-derived products, CBD extracts included, may only be marketed under the medical, veterinary or research regimes, with prior Infarmed authorisation. ASAE may order precautionary seizures. No court ruling settling the question appears in the sources consulted as of 19 October 2026. A product on a shop shelf therefore proves nothing about its legality. The situation in neighbouring Spain, where CBD flower is still a narcotic, is described in our article on CBD in Spain.

The official documents consulted set no THC threshold for selling CBD in shops, since they treat such sales as outside the framework. The only figure they give is at most 0.2% THC, for substances taken from the seeds of plants in the common catalogue. Commercial pages that announce 0.2% or 0.3% do not replace a Portuguese text. The French threshold of 0.30% does not carry over either: it applies in France, to the product you hold.

A certificate of analysis describes a sample, not a legal status. Check that its batch number is the one on the packaging. The report should name the laboratory, the date and the method, and give the THC with its unit. Our guide to reading a certificate of analysis goes through these lines. The one on laboratory accreditation explains how to check what an accreditation actually covers.

A valid certificate does not prove that the product may be sold legally in Portugal, nor that it may enter France. For the products it sells in France, Phytogrammes shows a reference cannabinoid profile on each product page; no laboratory certificate is published there as of 18 October 2026. The laboratory page lists the catalogue products.

Worked example A CBD oil sold in Lisbon is labelled "cosmetic". Under Infarmed's 2024 circular, CBD has no place in a cosmetic. If the oil is swallowed, EU law classes it as an unauthorised novel food. Either way, neither the label nor the shop proves that it complies.

The French public service website points out that possessing, transporting or bringing narcotics into France is illegal (Service-Public, checked on 24 November 2025). Illegally importing narcotics carries up to ten years in prison and a fine of 7,500,000 euros (article 222-36 of the Criminal Code). Using them carries up to one year in prison and a fine of 3,750 euros (article L3421-1, Légifrance). Since 20 August 2026, paying a fixed fine of 500 euros can end the prosecution.

A CBD product escapes this regime on two conditions. Its variety is listed in the catalogue, with THC limited to 0.30%. The same limit applies to extracts and finished products (order of 30 December 2021, Légifrance). MILDECA, the French interministerial drugs agency, confirms this in its September 2026 summary (MILDECA, 2026). Our article on the authorised THC level explains what that rate is measured on.

Flowers and resins raise a practical problem at checks. MILDECA notes that a hemp flower cannot be told apart by eye from a THC-rich flower. A police check may therefore follow: our article on police checks with CBD describes what the roadside test shows and what it does not. An oil meant to be swallowed is a foodstuff, and MILDECA states that CBD foods are currently illegal in Europe and liable to be withdrawn.

On a plane, the security rules on liquids come on top of the rules on the product. Our guide to flying with CBD covers them. A parcel is a customs matter: see CBD parcels sent from abroad.