Hempro Int. vs. BVL: Düsseldorf company demands free movement of goods for hemp leaf tea in court, also in Germany
The differing opinions regarding the marketability of hemp leaf tea in Germany will now be decided in court. After the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) refuses to issue the required general ruling, Hempro Int. is taking the matter to the competent administrative court in Braunschweig.
A general ruling can be applied for and issued for foodstuffs from another member state of the European Union that allegedly do not comply with the regulations applicable in Germany. The application submitted by Hempro Int. for hemp leaves dated 22.04.2021 was rejected by the BVL on 22.09.2021. The Düsseldorf hemp company has filed a complaint against this decision with the Administrative Court of Braunschweig via the law firm KNF+ with the lawyer Kai-Friedrich Niermann.
Hempro Int. plans to import hemp leaves from Austria and sell them in Germany as hemp tea “Natur” and hemp tea “Lemon”. However, the BVL is of the opinion that hemp leaves are narcotics. The non-vital reasoning: there is a risk of abuse for intoxication purposes, since a minor intoxicating effect can be achieved with great effort and considerable cost when used other than as tea, namely when baked in a “brownie”.
Kai Friedrich Niermann of the KFN+ law firm:
“Abuse for intoxication purposes must generally be considered excluded in the case of commercial hemp products. In the ruling just cited, the Federal Court of Justice also referred to an expert opinion of the Federal Ministry of Health from 1996, according to which misuse for intoxicating purposes was not to be expected with commercial hemp.”
Daniel Kruse, Managing Director of Hempro Int. GmbH and President of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA):
“We have been selling hemp leaf tea completely legally since 1996 and want to continue selling this product. It is a completely safe product. It is impossible to achieve a state of intoxication by drinking the tea, by smoking useful hemp leaves or by eating useful hemp leaf cookies. Therefore, the assumption of a risk of abuse is completely out of touch with life and misses the reality.”
With its negative decision, the BVL also contradicts the principle of free movement of goods in the European Union. In Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg, unprocessed products made from commercial hemp – and this also includes hemp tea made from rubbed hemp leaves – are already freely marketable. In order to enable the sale also in other member states, the European Commission has specially introduced a procedure to determine the marketability quickly and unbureaucratically.
Daniel Kruse, Managing Director of Hempro Int. GmbH and President of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA):
“Once again, this is working amateurishly in Germany. The EU introduces an accelerated procedure to promote the free movement of goods, and a German federal office plays the brake block. As a German entrepreneur, I can only shake my head at this arbitrariness and have to take the lengthy route through the courts.”
The Administrative Court of Braunschweig is now examining in summary proceedings whether the BVL’s attitude and refusal to issue the general ruling unlawfully restricts Hempro Int.’s rights and additionally violates European law. Hempro Int. is prepared to go to the next instances and also to the ECJ. Until the court decisions are made, sales of hemp leaf tea and existing jobs are at risk. To make the cultivation of the raw material legally secure in one’s own country and to create jobs in agriculture requires a political decision.
The case “Hempro Int. against the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL)” goes into the next round. “We will keep you informed”, promises hemp pioneer Daniel Kruse.
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.
This post was translated from DeepL.