In an effort to re-energize the FSA and push ahead with its long-running CBD Novel Foods Approvals Process, it hosted a Wednesday meeting (July 23, 2017) with stakeholders in the industry to discuss future negotiations. These could have a significant impact on the sector’s growth.
Earlier this year, with its newly restructured management, the FSA clarified long sought-after issues such as THC limitations, ADI guidance and future timelines. This was for those businesses who are still waiting on their products being officially approved.
The focus of Wednesday’s Consultation shifted to the Starmer Administration’s attempts to achieve a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS) with the European Union in order to boost trade with UK’s nearest trading partners.
The UK may be able to align itself more closely with EU CBD regulations if these complex negotiations succeed.
This could potentially open the EU CBD market to UK CBD businesses but it could also slow the process down further due to the current inaction of the EU.
The FSA’s decision to call this meeting in order to alert the business community of emerging risks is a significant shift towards transparency.
What is a SPS Agreement
SPS Agreements are a form of international agreement that regulates the way countries implement health and safety rules to protect people, animals and plants, while also preventing these rules from becoming hidden trade protectionist laws.
Under the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) supervision, the SPS framework encourages all countries to align their laws with the international standard. It also allows flexibility for those who wish to do more than that if scientific evidence is available.
In May, the UK and European Commission met in Brussels for ‘exploratory talks’ into potential future bilateral trade and alignment, part of Starmer’s so-called ‘Brexit reset’ initiative.
The meeting did not result in any concrete agreements, but it laid the foundation for more extensive negotiations to be conducted, which will include a SPS Agreement.
Proposals now on the table would see checks on plant produce, and other agrifood items removed, but both sides would rely on a ‘dynamic alignment’ mechanism, seeing the UK automatically adopt relevant EU rules.
UK may request for limited deviations from alignment but only:
- It does not lower standards.
- This does not disadvantage EU goods on the UK’s market.
- C) The import regulations of the EU are not compromised.
What does CBD mean?
In spite of its mistakes, the FSA’s CBD Novel Food Programme remains the only programme in the entire world to work on regulating CBD as a product.
In Europe, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) effectively ‘stopped the clock’ on the 19 European novel foods applications currently under consideration until ‘many data gaps’ on the health effects of CBD in humans have been filled.
Since that time, almost no progress was made by the EFSA. The agency has called for additional data including toxicology human studies to determine CBD’s safety.
It is clear that the UK CBD laws and EU CBD rules are in conflict. Although there have been efforts made to get the UK CBD process to official approvals, a complete alignment with EU regulations could send the whole industry back to the beginning.
FSA says that three possible outcomes are likely to come out of the negotiations with regards to CBD. It’s important to remember, however, that the FSA expects these to take years to happen and they won’t have an immediate impact on their current work regarding the novel food application and public list.
- There are no exceptions to the UK’s full dynamic alignment with EU: the UK will be following EU CBD regulations, and EU market authorisations will apply for Great Britain and EU.
- Dynamic alignment, with certain exceptions. (Including a complete exception for CBD). The UK would retain an independent CBD policy and FSA’s CBD Program would continue.
- If you fail to agree, the status quo will continue.
Businesses that spent tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on UK applications, and waited for half a century in limbo would find it painful to hand the power over to the EFSA.
The FSA will continue to deliver the program that supports market authorizations of CBD products, a representative informed stakeholders.
Negotiating an exception is necessary to achieve this without compromising the original intent. The outcome of the negotiations will depend on things beyond our control. These include the UK government’s position in the EU and any agreement that is made.
According to the FSA, in order for UK CBD products to be covered under an SPS agreement by the EU, three conditions must be met.
First, no agreement should lower standards in comparison to EU regulations. The agreement must not adversely impact the access of imports to the UK markets by EU members. Third, and perhaps the hardest to meet in reality, only products that comply with EU regulations can be allowed on the EU market.”
Even though these three criteria are met, the agreement is still far from certain.
The FSA said that “meeting these tests does not guarantee an agreement.” The FSA added that “it’s equally important to realize that the EU is not going to want to grant the UK an unfair advantage in the competition, or any better deal for the UK than other EU member states.”
FSA has not been able to provide a roadmap for future negotiations, because it’s unclear exactly when they will start. However, representatives noted that the ‘UK government wants to reach an SPS agreement as soon as possible, and negotiations are expected to take place in the next year.’
Once any agreements are made, there is likely to be a ‘substantial’ transition period.
While the FSA clearly has made an effort to update the CBD sector on upcoming developments, this does not fall under their jurisdiction. This creates uncertainty and complications for CBD owners.
The Cannabis Trades Association has created a survey for the CBD Food sector to better understand its impact.
Your experiences are important, whether your business is still in operation, if it has reduced its market presence, withdrawn from the market or impacted at some point after 2018. The results will be anonymised, and the FSA as well as other stakeholders can use them to support their calls for a balanced and effective regulatory climate.
👉 Please take the survey.