Court rules in favor of Hempro: City of Düsseldorf had to revise sales ban on CBD products

The Düsseldorf-based company Hempro International is celebrating an important victory in the legal action against the comprehensive CBD sales ban issued by the state capital in July 2020.

According to a decision of the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf, the sales ban for CBD-containing foodstuffs formulated in a general decree overshoots the mark in the supplementary reasoning section. Accordingly, CBD products that exclusively reflect the natural spectrum of ingredients of the useful hemp plant are no longer affected by the sales ban. Hempro International as plaintiff and many affected companies in Düsseldorf can be very happy about this.

City of Düsseldorf misinterprets letter of LANUV

On April 9, 2020, the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (LANUV) had only deemed the sale of products containing cannabidiol as “CBD isolates” or “hemp extracts enriched with CBD” to be impermissible. However, the city of Düsseldorf then immediately banned the complete sale of all foodstuffs containing CBD by general decree on July 11, 2020. According to the decision of the Administrative Court, this full-scale sales ban is illegal and inadmissible.

Fine, but decisive difference

The prohibition tenor of the general ruling only referred to the food products listed by the LANUV that contain “CBD isolates” or “hemp extracts enriched with CBD”. In the explanatory part of the general ruling, however, it was additionally stated by the City of Düsseldorf under the item “Concretization” that this prohibition would also apply to “all extracts containing cannabinoids” and “foodstuffs containing CBD”.

This extensive and broad sales ban would thus also have affected products that naturally contain CBD and “all cannabinoid-containing extracts” (also containing traditionally produced natural extracts from parts of the hemp plant).

By way of explanation, CBD products that reflect only the natural spectrum of ingredients contained in the useful hemp plant do not constitute “CBD isolates” or “CBD-enriched hemp extracts.” The cannabinoid CBD contained in the natural spectrum occurs precisely in commercial hemp naturally with the highest proportion of all cannabinoids.

City of Düsseldorf without reaction

Daniel Kruse, Managing Director of Hempro International GmbH and President of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA):

“This is another landmark decision on the way to a responsible normality for the cultivation of commercial hemp and the sale of natural CBD products in Germany. I had made an offer of talks to the city of Düsseldorf in advance because of the much too far-reaching sales ban – unfortunately without success. On the other hand, the court proceedings I initiated on this point in dispute have now been all the more successful.”

However, the decision of the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf brings a drop of bitterness with it: Although Hempro International has been proven right in the matter, the company must unfortunately bear the costs of the proceedings, explains the Düsseldorf hemp pioneer Kruse:

“Once again, this shows the arbitrariness of German authorities when it comes to the topic of “hemp”. In the course of the ongoing legal dispute, the city of Düsseldorf has for the first time conceded and agreed with our opinion that the part of the general decree on the CBD sales ban that we objected to is indeed not valid. Nevertheless, we have to pay the costs of the legal dispute, since in the opinion of the court, our right to sue on this point has thereby ceased to exist. The fact that the city of Düsseldorf, as a result of its conduct, first gave rise to the judicial clarification of this legal issue, on the other hand, was unfortunately not taken into account by the court.”

According to the administrative court, the general ruling of the city of Düsseldorf only applies to products containing “CBD isolates” or hemp extracts enriched with “CBD.” This is an important partial success for Hempro International and all hemp companies in Düsseldorf. Thus, it is now finally clarified by the courts that the sale of CBD-containing food products containing only the natural spectrum of ingredients of the useful hemp plant and no “CBD isolates” or “CBD-enriched hemp extracts” are not covered by the sales ban in the general decree of the city of Düsseldorf dated July 11, 2020.

Contact

Hempro International GmbH
Daniel Kruse | Managing Director (V. i. S. d. P.) Rebecca Kruse | Managing Director

Rüdiger Tillmann | Press Spokesman Fon +49 171 3677028 r.tillmann@jole-newsroom.com

Hempro International GmbH Münsterstr. 336
40470 Düsseldorf
Fon +49 211 6999056-10 info@hempro.com www.hempro.com

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About Hempro International

Hempro International, as one of the leading companies in Europe, produces a comprehensive range of raw materials and products from hemp in certified organic quality. Customers are the hemp industry as well as producers and suppliers of food, cosmetics, textiles and accessories made from hemp.

Hempro International, based in Düsseldorf, Germany, consistently advances the use of hemp for natural and climate-friendly products. Hemp is one of the oldest useful plants in the world and can be used in many ways as a renewable raw material with high environmental compatibility.

www.hempro.com

This post was translated from DeepL.