UK: CBD firm sues government for £3,4m over ‘illegal’ hemp seizure

The UK government is being sued by a CBD company for £3,4m, in the latest major challenge to the mismanagement of legal hemp. Ocean Development (Dorset) Ltd. and retailer CBD Flower Shop Ltd. are seeking damages from the Home Office on grounds of “unlawful conduct” after a shipment of hemp was seized by the UK Border Force. The problem is that these hemp and CBD shipments that are being ‘temporarily’ seized by authorities are only released months later, when the product has already expired.

This happened less than a year after the Jersey Hemp has won a landmark case A similar case was filed against the UK government, forcing it to admit that it acted illegally in seizing hemp products, but it failed to provide a precedent for preventing similar cases. While this case may help to clarify regulation further, it comes amid reports of a rise in hemp and CBD shipments being temporarily seized by authorities, only to be released months later when the product expires.

What happened?
The two companies, owned by Shirley Anne Elizabeth Wood and her son Joshua Wood, have launched legal action against the UK government, alleging that Border Force unlawfully seized 10 shipments of legally imported hemp between August 2023 and May 2024.

The companies, which hold a valid licence from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to import hemp for use in tea, claim Border Force wrongly classified the shipments as controlled drugs, despite hemp’s legal status under UK law.

Filed in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales under case number KB-2024-002634, the lawsuit accuses the Home Office of breaching human rights protections and causing significant financial harm. The plaintiffs argue that the seizures violated their right to the peaceful enjoyment of their property and label Border Force’s classification of hemp as a controlled drug as “unfounded”.

They further argue that the system designed to combat illegal cannabis imports disproportionately impacts legal hemp and CBD businesses. “A system in which real hemp is only identified as a legal substance through a lengthy seizure and conviction process, during which the plaintiff is deprived [of] its possession, cannot be characterized as proportionate,” the claim reads.

As a result, the companies are seeking almost £3,4 million in damages, including more than £3,1 million for reputational damage to CBD Flower Shop and additional losses for the seized hemp and the reputation of Ocean Development.

An ongoing problem
The plaintiffs in this case are being represented by Josh Normanton of Trinity Chambers and Robert Jappie of Fieldfisher LLP, who also recently represented Jersey Hemp in the battle to clear its name.

In April last year, Jersey Hemp secured a “very significant victory” against the UK Home Office after the government admitted to unlawfully banning the company from importing CBD products into the UK.

The High Court ruling overturned a decision by the Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit (DFLU) that threatened the legality of Jersey Hemp’s operations and posed an increased risk to the UK CBD industry.

Despite the victory, the lack of a written court ruling on the application of the exempted product criteria leaves the industry in legal ambiguity. Legal experts, including Normanton, noted that the Home Office’s concession avoided setting a formal precedent, leaving the door open for more cases like this to occur.

The Jersey Hemp case centred on the “Exempt Products Criteria” under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, which allow products containing traces of THC to be lawfully imported and sold if specific conditions are met. Jersey Hemp argued that its CBD products, which complied with these regulations, were wrongly classified by the Home Office as being designed to administer controlled substances.

The Home Office admitted its mistake, acknowledging that its interpretation of the regulations was overly restrictive and unlawful.

While the ruling is a major milestone for the CBD industry, it came too late for Jersey Hemp. The company lost 95% of its revenue after its license was revoked, forcing it to lay off employees and sell equipment at a loss to pay off creditors.

https://x.com/ecpj_campaign/status/1767916271452963280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1767916271452963280%7Ctwgr%5E88d04ba3de01070cf9152f6867002081ff3fbdba%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbusinessofcannabis.com%2Fuk-cbd-business-sues-government-for-3-4m-over-unlawful-seizure-of-hemp%2F&mx=2

Increased seizures
This latest unnecessary legal dispute comes amid reports of a rise in such seizures, with a source telling Business of Cannabis that an increasing number of hemp and CBD shipments are being held up by the UK border force.

At least three shipments from various companies are believed to have recently reported that their imports were held up due to minor infractions such as labeling issues, being held for around six months and then released, by which time the products were out of date and unusable.

This week, UK Border Force reports highest number of drug seizures in its history, seizing more than 119 tonnes of illegal substances in the year ending March 2024, a 52% increase on the previous year.

Combined with police efforts, a total of 217.644 drug seizures were made in England and Wales, representing a 13% increase compared to 2023. The estimated street value of these seizures is around £3 billion, marking a record year for law enforcement.

'Herbal cannabis' accounted for a significant portion of this, with 74 tonnes seized in the period, marking an increase of almost 60% on the previous year and representing the largest amount recorded since 1973.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you do with €3 a month? Become one of our Patrons! If you believe that independent cannabis journalism is necessary, subscribe to one of the levels of our Patreon account and you will have access to unique gifts and exclusive content. If there are many of us, we can make a difference with little!

ben stevens

More postsBiography

• ben stevens

  https://cannareporter.eu/author/benstevens/

  Italy: Government uses “emergency” powers to ban hemp flower, criminalising 22.000 people overnight
• ben stevens

  https://cannareporter.eu/author/benstevens/

  Business of Cannabis holds Berlin Executive Summit on November 26th
• ben stevens

  https://cannareporter.eu/author/benstevens/

  Thailand publishes new bill to regulate cannabis, rather than ban it completely
• ben stevens

  https://cannareporter.eu/author/benstevens/

  Italian court suspends ban on CBD oils, but hemp sector protests continue across the country