Luxembourg, 19/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Court of Justice has rejected the Netherlands' appeal against a decision by the European Commission in 1999 refusing to pay a proportion of the aid granted to Dutch hemp farmers from the EU budget.
According to the Fifth Chamber under Austrian judge Peter Jann, the European regulation covering hemp farming aims to avoid as far as possible a situation whereby the plant is harvested when its tetrahydrocannabinol content can be a danger for public health.
After visiting the farms in 1995, the EAGGF concluded that the plants were harvested during flowering while the seeds were still in the creamy state (when their tetrahydrocannabinol content is at its highest). The Commission said that taking account of the dangers of the harvest being hived off for drug production, the regulations in place had to be scrupulously respected.
It stressed the highly sensitive nature of the hemp plant that can be a considerable danger to public health because of its "intoxicating properties", arguing that a balance had to be struck between the concern to remove the risk and the considerable interest of growing hemp in various regions of the European Communities.
The common organisation of the hemp market is governed by an EC regulation of 1970 setting out aid for farmers per hectare of land sown and harvested.