Is Artemisia annua prohibited? We clarify

In general: As long as a plant is not a poisonous and/or addictive substance, a seed or plant (e.g. aloe vera) as such is not prohibited. Since, for example, dried aloe vera was already being used before May 15, 1997, it can also be sold in accordance with the authorities. In cases of dispute, an expert commission is appointed in Germany. The problem here, however, is that in every country in Europe, but also in some districts, completely different judgments have been made and are still made today.

Im November 2019 setzte die EU Artemisia annua auf eine spezielle Liste, unter die alle Produkte fallen, die vor dem 15. Mai 1997 nicht in "nennenswertem Umfang" in der Europäischen Union verwendet wurden.

In concrete terms, this means that the EU is currently demanding a new authorization for Artemisia annua. A plant that has been held in high regard worldwide for over 2000 years and has been used by humans since before the birth of Christ.

A plant for whose rediscovery the Chinese researcher Youyou Tu was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2015.

Such a re-approval is not only a lengthy process that would take several years, but would also cost millions of euros - with no guarantee of success. In short: a death sentence for every smaller company! 

For more than 35 years, we have dedicated ourselves intensively to the research and use of Artemisia annua. Since 2015, we have been distributing Artemisia annua and other valuable plant products worldwide through our teemana initiative. At that time, we even received significant support from the German government. We supplied important institutions abroad and received additional support from the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) for the dissemination of knowledge about A-3 and the establishment of A-3 fields in Congo.

The Federal Ministry of Research and Education even titled: "Artemisia annua - In Germany, this plant is better known as a weed, but it can do much more - it can change the world."

However, this support was abruptly ended soon after when Artemisia annua was reclassified by the EU in 2019 and our company was persecuted from one day to the next. For years now, we have faced political hurdles from the German government and the EU lobby. Despite these obstacles and with great courage and your support, we have persevered so far.

As already mentioned, Artemisia annua is not banned. Nevertheless, we felt like criminals when the situation came to a head in a raid on May 10, 2022.

After we had again received a demand for a penalty payment of 30,000.00 euros, there followed a real raid on our private apartment at 9.00 am.

The local court had ordered a search warrant. Unannounced, as is probably customary, armed police officers came to us as well as an "independent witness" from the city. 

At the same time, they also arrived at our business premises, where all containers of Artemisia annua were sealed and we were initially banned from further sales.

We were shaken to the core and at a loss for words. But despite all this, we never for a moment thought of giving up. After all, it has always been our major goal to make Artemisia annua products accessible to everyone.

With this report, we do not wish to force sympathy, but merely to tell the true story correctly. It is often only given in fragments, which has led many people to the false assumption that Artemisia annua is forbidden.

Nevertheless, unfortunately we cannot yet speak of a victory, because we continue to fight every day for the rights of all plant lovers in Germany.

As you have now learned, we have taken on a long battle, which is still ongoing, to be able to continue offering Artemisia annua to you. It has certainly not always been easy. There were moments when we felt exhausted and would have liked to give up, not to mention the financial burden that almost meant the end of our business.

Nevertheless, the will for justice was too strong in us. We could not and would not settle for simply giving up on the one-year-old mugwort. Today, we are extremely proud and grateful that we have steadfastly mastered this path with the active support of our customers. As you can see, it was worth it - otherwise you wouldn't be reading these lines today.