Budget 2026: why French CBD growers and retailers feared a tax rise

By Manon, CBD specialist at Deli Hemp Pro

Written on 27 November 2025, for information only. This is not tax or legal advice, and the final outcome of the debate should be checked.

In November 2025, France's draft budget for 2026, the PLF (projet de loi de finances, the annual finance bill), put the whole hemp and CBD trade under pressure through its Article 23. The text proposed tobacco-style taxation and limited sales to approved outlets, such as licensed tobacconists and establishments approved by the customs authority. Growers, wholesalers and retailers feared a sharp rise in costs and a complete reshuffle of distribution. This article sets out, from a B2B angle, what Article 23 proposed and how professionals prepared.

The concern went well beyond the trade. General and specialist media covered it, and as a CBD wholesaler, Deli Hemp worked alongside other businesses in the sector to argue for more coherent rules. You can watch BFM TV's report on producers' and retailers' concerns (in French). For the parliamentary timetable, see our update on where Article 23 stood in November 2025.

1. What Article 23 proposed for CBD

1.1. A new category: raw smoking products without tobacco

Article 23 created a tax category for "raw smoking products not containing tobacco". It could cover:

• Dried CBD flowers.
• CBD resins and hash.
• CBD cigarettes and smoking blends.
• Some CBD vape products treated as smoking products.

For these products, the text planned a specific excise duty on top of the 20% VAT already charged in France.

1.2. Tobacco-style taxation

In the version under discussion, Article 23 provided for:

• A proportional excise of up to 25.7% for some raw smoking products.
• A fixed amount per kilo, for example €18/kg for certain flowers or herbs for smoking.
• Both on top of 20% VAT.

At the same wholesale price, the tax cost of a kilo of smokable CBD flower could therefore rise sharply, with a direct effect on retail prices and on resellers' margins.

1.3. Approved outlets and tighter vape rules

Article 23 went beyond tax. It also provided for:

• Compulsory approval for shops selling vaping products.
• Sales of some products treated as smoking products restricted to outlets approved by the authorities, in particular licensed tobacconists (buralistes) or establishments under customs control.
• A ban on online sales to consumers for vaping products treated as tobacco.

The government's stated aim was to align the taxation and distribution of smokable CBD products and vapes with those of tobacco, in the name of tax neutrality and customs traceability.

1.4. A timetable still in flux

Politically, the situation was unsettled at the end of November 2025:

• The revenue part of the PLF had been rejected once by the National Assembly.
• Amendments to delete Article 23 had been tabled and debated.
• The text was moving between the National Assembly and the Senate and could still change before final adoption.
• Entry into force was planned between July 2026 and January 2027, by implementing decree.

Even so, the threat to CBD businesses was real, especially for smokable products and vapes.

2. What it meant for growers, wholesalers and CBD shops

2.1. Hemp growers

• Hemp flowers intended for smoking would become excise goods under a regime close to tobacco, even though they comply with the 0.3% delta-9-THC limit.
• Growers would face heavier administration: traceability, bonded storage and a specific tax regime.
• Part of production might have to move towards non-smokable uses, such as cosmetics or industrial hemp, to avoid the new taxation.

2.2. CBD wholesalers

• They might need to become authorised warehousekeepers to hold excise goods.
• They would have to handle tax stamps, excise returns and customs checks, with a heavy impact on overheads.
• Margins would come under pressure, with a choice between raising prices and squeezing margins to compete with tobacconists and other approved outlets.
• Some B2B channels could break down if shops could not, or would not, obtain the planned approval.

2.3. Physical shops and online stores

• Independent CBD shops could lose the right to sell some of their key products (smokable flowers, hash, CBD cigarettes, vapes) if they did not qualify as approved establishments.
• Consumer websites would be directly hit on vaping products treated as tobacco, through the ban on distance selling to consumers.
• B2B platforms would be better placed, but would need to adapt their catalogue and the regulatory guidance they give resellers.

3. Five steps professionals took to prepare

3.1. Map your exposure to Article 23

The first step was a detailed inventory of the catalogue, sorted by level of risk:

• Highly exposed: CBD flowers, hash, CBD cigarettes, inhalable vapes.
• Moderately exposed: CBD e-liquids and pods, depending on their legal classification.
• Little or not exposed: oils, capsules and cosmetics.

The 2025 version of this list also included CBD infusions and hemp food products. Since 15 May 2026, France's food safety authority (the DGAL) has banned foodstuffs containing CBD, because CBD has not been authorised as a Novel Food in the EU, so they are no longer an option in France. The mapping shows where to focus pricing, margin, supplier negotiations and repositioning. Our CBD resins sit in the highly exposed group.

3.2. Simulate the tax impact on your margins

Even before the details were settled, you could already run a simulation. An example of the method:

• Start from your purchase price per kilo (or per litre for liquids).
• Add an excise scenario, for instance €18/kg plus a 25.7% excise duty.
• Apply 20% VAT to the total.
• Project your selling price excl. VAT and your net margin for each line.

The point is not an exact figure but the order of magnitude of the increase, and which products would become hard to sell.

3.3. Adjust the range towards non-smokable products

Without dropping flowers and resins altogether, it was reasonable to:

• Strengthen non-smokable ranges such as oils, capsules and cosmetics.
• Use trial packs and cross-selling to introduce customers to these segments.
• Cut back on the most exposed lines, such as low-end flowers and low-value hash, which would cope badly with a large tax rise.

3.4. Professionalise your documentation

With an excise regime and stricter customs checks on the horizon, wholesalers and shops had every reason to:

• Hold recent COAs for every batch of flowers, resins and vapes.
• Make sure batch, label and invoice match.
• Update technical sheets and the legal information on packaging.
• Formalise a traceability process for customs or health inspections.

That groundwork would be expected by the authorities whatever the final wording of Article 23. Our products comply with French law (delta-9-THC no higher than 0.3%). The status of hemp flowers, resins and other hemp products varies from one country to another and can be stricter than in France. In the UK, the status of hemp flower remains contested, so check the resale rules in your own country before you order.

3.5. Work with an organised wholesaler that follows the rules closely

In a shifting context, an organised CBD wholesaler brings real advantages:

• A catalogue already sorted by the regulatory risks identified.
• Quality and tax documents on hand (COAs, technical sheets, traceability).
• The ability to adjust ranges, with fewer smokable lines if needed.
• Help with margin simulations and range decisions.

The stronger your wholesaler is on compliance, the more you can focus on selling, advising and keeping your customers.

4. Article 23: threat or push towards professionalisation?

For the CBD trade, Article 23 was first felt as a threat: some sales channels could close, taxes would rise and customs oversight would tighten. It could also serve as a push towards professionalisation, with better-structured ranges and margins, a longer-term focus on non-smokable products and stronger quality, traceability and tax processes.

The practical advice at the time was to follow the parliamentary debates closely (National Assembly, Senate, then the joint committee of both houses), stay informed through trade federations and wholesale partners, and start margin simulations and range adjustments early. How the debate ended, and what the final Finance Act for 2026 and its decrees contain, is something to check before drawing conclusions.