THE WHAT? The UK Food Standards Authority (FSA) has given businesses until May 26, 2022 to submit evidence that their products are linked to a credible application and were on the market before February, 2020.

THE DETAILS The FSA said that it would update the public list twice before June 30, with the first update due imminently. After June 30, no new products will be added.

The FSA is continuing to accept CBD novel food applications but products connected to these should not be put on sale until they have completed the process and secured authorisation.

THE WHY? Rebecca Sudworth, Director of Policy, FSA said, “Our announcement on March 31 that the CBD public list should be used to help prioritise efforts to enforce the novel food regulations has prompted a number of companies to come forward with new evidence linking large numbers of individual products to applications. We are reviewing this new evidence to assess whether these products meet the criteria to be added to the list.

“This is an unexpected development as this product information should have been provided to us much earlier in the process. To support businesses to achieve compliance for their products, we are therefore making one final call for evidence from businesses to link their products to credible applications. Any businesses that have not already done so must send this evidence to us as soon as possible, but no later than 26 May for consideration…

“The CBD business is a large and complex market, where currently no products on sale have formally been through the necessary safety assessment. The FSA continues to take a proportionate and pragmatic approach to bringing this huge range of products towards compliance. There will continue to be a degree of change in the short term as the process continues. Certainty will only come after authorisation of CBD applications is achieved.”