Written by Ben Stevens
Image source: Paid for on license via Adobe Firefly.
Italy’s hemp industry has called on the European Commission (EC) to intervene after the government moved to ban the cultivation, production and marketing of hemp.
Several Italian cannabis and agricultural trade groups have written to the EC arguing that a recent amendment to the country’s Security Bill could ‘violate European Union law on free competition and movement of goods.’
The groups have called for the amendment to be canceled by the EC, stating it would wipe out the country’s entire hemp industry, leading to the closure of some 3000 businesses and the loss of 15,000 jobs supported by the sector.
It marks the latest attempt by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration to crack down on the ‘cannabis light’ industry, following numerous so-far failed attempts since her election to power in 2022.
What happened?
Late last month, the government proposed an amendment to the Security Bill on ‘measures concerning hemp inflorescences and products derived from that place.’
The Chamber of Deputies is now considering the amendment, which will examine it and hear expert opinions before it is debated, voted upon, and potentially sent to the Senate for a final vote.
In what the leading Italian hemp trade group Federcanapa described as a ‘grotesque crackdown’ on the industry, the amendment would effectively render all commercial activity surrounding industrial hemp, even that with THC below 0.3%, illegal in Italy.
Article 13-bis of the Security Bill, which covers a range of issues far beyond hemp, would prohibit the ‘importation, processing, possession, transfer, distribution, trade, transport, dispatch, delivery, and sale to the public for consumption, even in semi-finished, dried or shredded form.’
This would not only wipe out the flourishing ‘cannabis light’ industry, which has long been a target for Meloni’s government, but would effectively wipe out the entire agricultural supply chain, making the production of hemp-derived products like cosmetics, herbal medicine, and food supplements a criminal offense.
The CIA-Agricoltori Italiani, one of Europe’s largest trade organizations working to protect the agricultural industry with over 900,000 members, said the bill threatens to close thousands of agricultural companies ‘in a continuously expanding sector with significant growth rates.’
Furthermore, it states that the amendment could further restrict the industry by banning the graphic symbol of the hemp plant, effectively blocking advertising ‘dedicated to excellent industrial and artisanal products such as green building, textiles, and cosmetics.’
Appeal to the European Commission
Following the proposed amendment, cannabis trade groups, including Canapa Sativa Italia (CSO) and Federcanapa, penned a letter to the EC raising their concerns about the ‘restrictions on the cultivation and trade of hemp inflorescences and derived products.’
