Is CBD legal in Malta?

Situación formal

Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 has classified CBD as a novel food across the EU since January 2019. To date, no member state holds Union list authorisation for it.

Malta's December 2021 adult-use cannabis reform did not address CBD ingestibles or food supplements. The relevant change came in May 2025, when Parliament unanimously amended the definition of cannabis under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance to include THC and CBD while expressly excluding non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids containing less than 0.2% THC. A Court of Magistrates has since applied that exclusion to importation, holding that importing part of the cannabis plant below 0.2% THC is not criminal.

The effect is to place compliant CBD outside Malta's narcotics framework - but not to authorise it as a food. Ordinary EU novel food law still applies, unresolved here as everywhere.

¿Vendemos aquí?

Not at the moment.

Malta is the clearest cannabinoid position of any market we ship to. In 2025 its Parliament unanimously amended the legal definition of cannabis to expressly exclude non-psychoactive cannabinoids below 0.2% THC, and a Maltese court has since applied that exclusion to imported product. That settles the narcotics question, which is the one that blocks us elsewhere.

What it doesn't settle is the EU-wide novel food position on CBD as a food ingredient - unresolved in every member state, Malta included. We sell here on that basis and review it regularly.

Perspectivas

Malta is the only country assessed so far where the formal position moved deliberately in a favourable direction rather than simply staying quiet - a recent, unanimously passed statutory exclusion, since applied by a court to importation.

What it does not do is resolve the EU novel food question, which is the same residual exposure that applies in every member state. The thing to watch is the EU authorisation process rather than anything Maltese.

Timeline

December 2021

Act LXVI of 2021 creates Chapter 628 and the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis, making Malta the first EU member state to permit adult personal cannabis use and home cultivation. The reform does not address CBD ingestibles or food supplements.

Parliament of Malta

May 2025

Various Laws relating to Cannabis Activities (Amendment) Act, Act XII of 2025, in force 16 May 2025, amends the definition of cannabis under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap. 101) to include THC and CBD while expressly excluding inflorescences, leaves, extracts and products derived from non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids containing less than 0.2% THC. Synthetic and semi-synthetic cannabinoids are banned, and ARUC gains broader enforcement powers.

Laws of Malta, Act XII of 2025 (amending Caps 101, 537 and 628)

August 2026

Maltese counsel publish an analysis of a Court of Magistrates decision applying the 2025 carve-out, in which the magistrate held that importing or possessing part of the cannabis plant below 0.2% THC is not criminal - a position the magistrate described as arguable under the pre-2025 definition but definitely not the case following the amendments.

Mifsud & Mifsud Advocates