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Cannabis as an ingredient in food or supplements (Ukraine)

The use of cannabis as an ingredient in food or supplements remains illegal in Ukraine with some special fea-tures. The storage, production, distribution and transportation of marijuana is classified as drug trafficking. Legal sales are possible only for industrial hemp grown in a specialised farm, but transactions are allowed only between legal entities. In Ukraine, it is allowed to grow technical hemp (Cannabis ruderalis) containing less than 0.08% THC. To do this, a farmer needs to obtain a licence from the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and agree on the loca-tion of the business facility with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, there are products in which cannabis may be present in Ukraine, including: • Hemp seeds: Hemp seeds that do not contain psychoactive substances are allowed for sale and consump-tion. • Hemp oil: Hemp oil, which is derived from hemp seeds and does not contain psychoactive substances, is al-lowed for sale and consumption. It should be noted that Ukraine has recently legalised the use of medical cannabis, namely, the Law "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on State Regulation of the Turnover of Plants of the Cannabis Genus for Use in Educational Purposes, Educational, Scientific and Scientific and Technical Activities, Production of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Medicines in order to Expand Patients' Access to Necessary Treatment" was adopted, which allows the use of medical cannabis and will come into force on 16 August 2024.

This is general information rather than legal advice and is current as of 30 May 2024. We recommend you contact a specialised food lawyer for legal advice for your particular circumstances to support commercial decisions which could impact your product or business.


Lana Sinichkina

Ukraine
Arzinger Law Firm