CBD in Slovakia – legislation, cultivation, Slovakia vs. Czech Republic

The offer of products and their diversity, as well as the awareness of people in connection with CBD in Slovakia has changed and grown considerably. This is definitely due to the legislative regulation that has officially opened the door to CBD in our country. The following lines will therefore give us an insight into the legal and statutory coverage, mention sources of information for those interested in CBD cultivation in Slovakia, and point out the differences between Slovak and Czech legislation on the products in question.

CBD yes…

May 1, 2022 was not only in the spirit of the Labour Day celebrations, but symbolically we associated it with a nice “anniversary” related to CBD in Slovakia. Exactly one year ago, i.e. on 1 May 2021, an amendment to Act No. 139/1998 of the Collection of Laws on Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Preparations, approved by the MPs, entered into force. On the basis of this amendment, cannabidiol (CBD) has been removed from the list of psychotropic substances in Slovakia, namely from Group II of highly addictive narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances contained as a medicinal substance in medicinal products. We are thus among the last Member States of the European Union that do not consider CBD to be a psychotropic substance. In addition to this reason, the Ministry of Health, as the submitter of the proposal, also argued the absence of cannabidiol in the UN conventions or the facilitation of the processes associated with the production, distribution and sale of CBD products in Slovakia. The positive impact on certain sectors of business and industry in terms of possible employment growth was certainly a factor of considerable motivation. Not to mention the enormous interest of people in quality products containing CBD.

Basically, it is simple mathematics, where the positives that were pointed out long before the 2021 amendment, not only here but also abroad, clearly outweighed the negatives associated with CBD. Of course, research has played an important role here too, along with education, and the confirmation of no psychoactive effects on the body has been decisive.

Finally, those interested in the beneficial effects of cannabidiol do not have to be afraid and worried about its use, on the contrary, they can take advantage of the wide range of CBD products in Slovakia.

… but not in food

Notwithstanding the above (exclusion from the list of psychotropic substances), CBD can still not be present in food unless it is an authorised novel food in the EU. The European market can only contain novel foods authorised and listed in the so-called Union list of novel foods or used in food in accordance with the conditions of use and labelling needs. Well, this is exactly the list that cannabidiol (and other cannabinoids) are not currently on. So far, they are only included in the publicly available Novel Food Catalogue with the title of unauthorised novel food, although the European Commission has already registered applications for CBD in relation to authorisation/listing as a novel food. So all that remains is to wait for the final decision.

If we wanted to summarize the current CBD activity in Slovakia, it would look something like this:

• CBD is legal in Slovakia, i.e. it is legal to buy and use products containing it (oils, ointments, cosmetics) as well as to import/export them from/to EU member states;
• CBD cannot be placed on the SR market as a food/food ingredient (including food supplements) unless it is approved as a novel food under EU Regulation 2015/2283.

CBD cultivation – necessary legal steps

If you are interested in growing hemp for the purpose of CBD production, it is very important to equip yourself with steady nerves and patience to begin with. This journey entails a number of necessary steps, adhering to current legislation, which should not be underestimated both for a successful start-up of cultivation and related activities and to avoid potential legal problems.

Initial orientation in the laws and sections does not sound very appealing, but without this it is simply not possible, and therefore it is necessary to start by paying attention to the following Act No 139/1998 Coll. on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and preparations . It is essential to identify and correctly understand the basic concepts or conditions under which the handling of certain substances is authorised. It also provides a clear list of the mandatory data relating to the application for the relevant authorisation, as well as the actual requirements associated with the authorisation itself. There are, of course, clear instructions in the event of termination, suspension or revocation of the authorisation itself, as well as the obligations of the holder of the authorisation. There is a lot of information in the above-mentioned law, the most important thing is to choose the information that is actually relevant to the activity in which the applicant’s interest is focused.

The group of mandatory literature for those interested in CBD cultivation in Slovakia includes Slovak Government Regulation No. This Regulation lays down the conditions for granting agricultural support in the form of direct payments. As in the previous case, the individual paragraphs (§2, §8, §10) provide the future producer with all the necessary information.

In the event of uncertainty and a foreseeable number of questions, it is certainly advisable to contact the state institutions primarily dealing with the subject, i.e. the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic (MPSR), or the Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA). For example, the website of the MPSR contains, inter alia a list The website of the PPA, for its part, contains specimens of the varieties of hemp that may be grown for the purposes of receiving direct payments forms for submitting a single application for direct payments for each year, it is sufficient to select the appropriate type of application.

And the last possible wells of relevant information could be considered to be companies moving in the sector. After all, they must have gone through similar hardships in the early days of business, they have already had some experience and may be willing to share their valuable experience.

Comparison of Slovak and Czech CBD legislation

The Slovak legislative framework related to CBD has been basically discussed in the previous paragraphs, where the individual laws/regulations governing this issue are listed. In addition, as a Member State we are also bound by the binding standards of the Union, so it is important to respect and cooperate with them. But what about CBD in our Czech neighbours, for example?

Thus – the basic issue is discussed by Act No. . on addictive substances, which contains everything necessary, e.g. the difference between technical and “ordinary” (a.k.a. marijuana) cannabis. Cannabis (registered variety) with a THC content of less than or equal to 1% by weight of the dry weight of the plant is considered to be technical cannabis. For higher percentages, a licence is required for cultivation.

According to the above-mentioned law, industrial hemp can be freely purchased, stored, further processed and also imported in the Czech Republic for the purpose of industrial, technical or horticultural processing. This law is basically something like our 139/1998 Coll., we can find there basic terms, info on licenses, obligations of interested parties or possible amounts of fines for offences.

As for CBD flowers for example, like in the Czech Republic, such products and similar products can only be sold as collector’s items/gifts to persons over 18 years of age. It is not allowed to encourage customers to consume (e.g. smoking) due to the possible charge of spreading intoxication (Act No. 40/2009 Coll., Criminal Code). In any case, however, it is necessary to cooperate with the relevant authorities and to resolve everything through official channels.

We can say that our neighbours have similar CBD legislation to ours, and they also belong to the list of EU Member States, so there is also a link with European law.

Sources:

• https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/1998/139/#
• https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/1998-167?text=Z%C3%A1kon+o+n%C3%A1vykov%C3%BDch+l%C3%A1tk%C3%A1ch
• https://www.apa.sk/clanok/zverejnenie-formularov-na-predkladanie-jednotnej-ziadosti-pre-priame-platby-pre-r-2022-vo-formate-pdf/11421
• https://www.mpsr.sk/?navID=47&sID=40&navID2=348

Hemp products in the article