Is CBN legal in Portugal?

Formal status

Across the EU, cannabinoid extracts including CBN are classified as unauthorised novel foods under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, and no Union list authorisation exists in any member state.

Portugal applies that baseline through ASAE and DGAV, and names cannabinol expressly in doing so. ASAE's published position - ASAEnews n.º 118 of December 2019, restated in n.º 124 of November 2021, and its standing FAQ - lists CBD, CBN, CBG and THC together as unauthorised novel foods. DGAV's 2023 guidance addresses cannabidiol only. Portugal is unusual in that ASAE does not rely on food law alone: in its 2026 enforcement operations it opened criminal proceedings under Decreto-Lei n.º 15/93, de 22 de janeiro, the narcotics code, alongside Decreto-Lei n.º 28/84, by characterising cannabinoid extracts as material falling within Tabela I-C. Canabinol is not named in any Portuguese statute or Portaria; the criminal characterisation is the enforcing agency's, and no Portuguese court has yet ruled on it.

Do we sell here?

Yes, for now: Sleep spray, Sleep capsules.

Yes, we ship to Portugal. We do so with our eyes open.

Portuguese authorities stepped up enforcement against hemp-derived supplements during 2026, and the food safety authority names cannabinol specifically among the cannabinoids it says should not be sold as foods. That enforcement has been directed at businesses established in Portugal, and we have found no case of it reaching a European seller shipping in from another member state.

We keep this under review every week. If it changes, we will say so here and stop shipping rather than wait to be told.

Outlook

Portuguese enforcement stepped up sharply in 2026, moving from published guidance to two national operations with criminal proceedings against domestic sellers, including online ones. The direction of travel is clearly toward more enforcement, not less.

The decisive question over the next year is whether any of the twenty-five pending criminal cases produces a conviction. A court ruling that a cannabinoid supplement falls within the narcotics tables would change the Portuguese picture materially, whereas the enforcement pattern on its own has so far stayed within the domestic market. Worth watching alongside that is EU-level movement on novel food authorisation, which would resolve the food-law question across the whole bloc at once.

Timeline

February 2022

INFARMED Circular Informativa n.º 014/CD/100.20.200 states that CBD and other naturally occurring cannabinoids are not permitted in cosmetics, citing Tabela I-C of Decreto-Lei n.º 15/93

INFARMED, Circular Informativa n.º 014/CD/100.20.200

January 2026

ASAE inspects six food-supplement operators in Porto, Braga, Aveiro and Guimarães, seizes 3,588 articles and opens six criminal proceedings under Decreto-Lei n.º 15/93 and Decreto-Lei n.º 28/84

ASAE, comunicado de imprensa

May 2026

ASAE's national Operação Euforia inspects 53 operators including websites selling online, seizes 6,822 articles and opens 19 criminal proceedings; all operators reached were established in Portugal

ASAE, comunicado de imprensa