In a long-awaited shift that indicators rising authorized acceptance of commercial hemp, German customs authorities have begun issuing official tobacco tax stamps for THC-free hemp flowers. The transfer, confirmed by the Hashish Trade Affiliation (BvCW), marks a regulatory milestone: these merchandise are actually being formally acknowledged not as “hashish,” however as taxable industrial items.
The event applies to flowers declared to include no detectable THC and is seen by trade stakeholders as a vital step towards legitimizing a industrial class that has lengthy existed in authorized limbo.
“The choice is a step in the appropriate route,” stated Lisa Haag, coordinator for know-how, commerce and providers on the BvCW. “Finally, the issuance of tax stamps brings extra tax income, extra authorized certainty, and extra financial freedom of motion. The Federal Ministry of Finance can create a win-win-win scenario for shoppers, German SMEs, and society as a complete by issuing directions to customs.”
From prohibition to taxation
Traditionally, smokable hemp flowers — even with THC ranges beneath 0.3%, the EU threshold for industrial hemp — have been handled as hashish by German customs and legislation enforcement because of the so-called “intoxication clause” within the German Hashish Act (KCanG). This clause enabled authorities to categorise hemp merchandise as narcotics primarily based solely on the theoretical potential for misuse.
By issuing tax stamps, the Bielefeld Foremost Customs Workplace is now signaling a shift: merchandise with undetectable THC ranges are now not being categorized as hashish, and are due to this fact taxable underneath the Tobacco Tax Act.
For Weedo, which has lengthy sought compliance to market its line of hemp buds and CBD merchandise, the change represents long-overdue authorized recognition.
“We’re very happy that customs has now apparently modified its authorized opinion — that industrial hemp with undetectable THC ranges is usually not hashish and due to this fact not prohibited,” stated Philipp Ferrer, the corporate’s managing director. “This shift permits the product to be taxed as a authorized good, and we welcome that. We deeply remorse that our trade was denied this necessary market entry for thus lengthy and unnecessarily.”
Weedo’s personal authorized battle has been central to the difficulty. The Düsseldorf Finance Courtroom dominated within the firm’s favor in November 2024, ordering tax stamps to be issued for THC-free hemp flowers. Whereas the case stays on enchantment on the Federal Fiscal Courtroom, latest regulatory shifts seem like aligning with the courtroom’s logic.
Push for broader reform
Though the change on the customs workplace is at present restricted to merchandise declared as 0.0% THC, the BvCW and trade stakeholders are pushing to increase this recognition to all compliant hemp flowers with as much as 0.3% THC — the EU’s accepted threshold.
Dr. Ferdinand Weis, legal professional and BvCW board member, stated this selective recognition is now legally and politically untenable. “In mild of the awarding of tax stamps… the refusal to concern tax stamps to Weedo will now in the end be legally untenable,” Weis stated. He added that the affiliation will proceed advocating for broader recognition and for the complete removing of the intoxication clause, which stays on the books after a failed legislative try within the final parliamentary session.
The Basic Customs Directorate, nonetheless, has indicated it might proceed to comply with earlier authorized interpretations, creating uncertainty for firms in different areas.
