The UK is the first country in the world to open the public sale of cannabinoids in food and drink regulates. According to Steve Moore, founder of the UK-based trade group the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI), the move will not only bring investors but also stimulate innovation.
A list compiled by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in conjunction with ACI lists approximately 3.500 products containing CBD. These have been given the green light to remain on the shelves.
Regulate Edibles
These products, which were already on sale in the UK, are allowed to remain on sale to the general public in England and Wales. All products not on the CBD list can no longer be sold. Retailers who continue to offer these products risk a penalty.
However, products not on the list can still be submitted for authorization to the FSA. When approved, these products can still come on the market.
More certainty for CBD industry and investors
Speaking at the launch of the CBD list, Moore said that implementing the CBD regulatory framework will reduce risk for producers, retailers, consumers and investors. “I've been talking to a lot of investors over the past three to four months and I think they feel they need the reassurance they got from the FSA today to continue investing in this category,” he said.
While regulation has led to the immediate ban on hundreds of CBD products, it will arguably drive further innovation. “It's an important milestone and there's now a group of companies that can continue to build on their product portfolios,” Moore said. “I think the peak year for innovation will be late 2023, early 2024, when full regulatory approval starts.”
Annual sales of CBD products to consumers in the UK reached an estimated £2021 million ($690 million) by 898, according to ACI, making it likely the second largest CBD market in the world after the US.
Approval Process
ACI describes inclusion on the CBD list as “an important step towards full authorization, expected in 2023.”
That is how it works:
- Suppliers of CBD products on sale in England and Wales on or before February 13, 2020 were required to submit an application for assessment by FSA by a deadline of March 31, 2021.
- Suppliers whose application files were subsequently reviewed to meet preliminary FSA's new nutritional standards have added their products to the CBD list, meaning they can remain on sale while awaiting full approval.
- CBD products that hit the market after February 13, 2020 or that have not applied before the deadline must be withdrawn from sale until they receive FSA authorization.
Adding a product to the list “means that you have submitted all the required information as per your dossier and that it has been accepted by the regulatory authorities. But that doesn't mean it's authorized," explains Parveen Bhatarah, ACI's regulatory and compliance leader, speaking at the launch event. “Any information you have submitted must be assessed at risk; only then will the authorization take place and since it concerns toxicological studies it will therefore take more than a year.”
About 900 applications were submitted before the deadline. Of those, 71 went through, leading to more than 3.500 products being added to the CBD list. 680 applications were rejected. 42 applications were themselves withdrawn by companies that no longer wanted to continue.
Read more agfundernews.com (Source, EN)
