The December 11 Hemp THC Rule: A Guide for CBD Retailers

On December 11, 2026, federal hemp law changes from a percentage test to a hard cap on the finished product: no more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container, and total THC now counts THCA. A lot of products that pass the 0.3% rule today will fail by a wide margin, and the certificate of analysis (COA) you already have is enough to tell which ones. This page walks through that check one product at a time, with the math, and ends with a shelf checklist for the weeks before the deadline. I'm Mark Gillilan, founder of Kyoto Botanicals. I'm a biologist, not a lawyer, so treat this as a working guide, not legal advice.

Show Me How to Check a COA

The Rule in One Minute

• The cap: a finished hemp product with more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container no longer counts as hemp under federal law. It is treated as marijuana instead.
• Total THC counts THCA. It also counts other cannabinoids with similar effects to THC, which the FDA is supposed to list. As of early September 2026, that list had not been published.
• Per container, not per serving. A 30 count gummy jar is one container, so all 30 gummies count toward the same 0.4 mg.
• The dates: the cap takes effect December 11, 2026. Cannabinoids the plant cannot naturally produce lose hemp status earlier, on November 12, 2026. Congress has already moved the main date once, from November 12 to December 11, 2026.
• Stock on your shelf: the law is silent on grandfathering. The change is scheduled, not retroactive, but nothing in it gives over-cap products a grace period after the date.

For the background on why lawmakers did this, see my plain-English guide to the 2025 THC rule. This page is the retailer version: what to check, how to do the math, and what to do about it.

Why Products That Pass Today Can Fail

The old test was a percentage: up to 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis. The new test is milligrams in the whole container, and the two are far apart. A 1 fl oz tincture weighs about 27.6 g. At 0.3% THC, that bottle could hold up to about 83 mg of THC, more than 200 times the new cap. To stay at 0.4 mg, the same bottle can hold no more than about 0.0014% total THC.

How to Check a COA for Total THC, Step by Step

Pull the COA for one product and work through these five steps. For a consumer walkthrough of every page on a lab report, read my guide to reading a COA. This section is only about the THC math to help you decide whether a product should stay on your shelf past December 11, 2026.

Step 1: Match the Report to the Product on Your Shelf

The lot or batch number on the report should match the number printed on the package. The sample type should be the finished product, such as the tincture, gummy, or cream, not the raw extract or oil that went into it. An extract report tells you very little about what ended up in the container. If the report is for a different lot, ask the brand for the right one.

For Kyoto Botanicals THC-free CBD products, the batch lot number is printed on the bottom of the bottle as well as on the bottom of the outer carton. Printing on the outer carton makes it easy for your customers to check lab results before they buy the product. Simply turn the carton over and look for the code printed on the bottom.

Step 2: Find Total THC

Here is the cannabinoid section of a real COA for a popular full spectrum tincture. The brand and lab have been anonymized, but the numbers are real in order for me to show you exactly what the math looks like for a real full-spectrum CBD product.

• Delta-9 THC is the THC that is already active.
• THCA is the acid form. Heat turns it into THC, and the new law counts it.
• Total THC is the lab's combined number. THCA is ND here, so total THC is the delta-9 number, 0.206%. Even counting THCA at its 0.003% limit adds only about 0.0026%, so the answer doesn't change.

The 0.877 is there because THCA loses part of its weight when it turns into THC, so each unit of THCA counts as 0.877 units of THC. That factor is the common lab convention. The law says total THC includes THCA but does not spell out a formula, so watch for FDA guidance on the calculation.

If your report lists delta-9 THC and THCA but no total, do the calculation above. If it lists only delta-9 THC, it cannot tell you whether the product meets the new rule, so ask the brand for a report that includes THCA. Also look for other THC variants on the panel, such as delta-8 THC. The law counts cannabinoids with similar effects to THC, and until the FDA publishes its list, the safest approach is to add in any THC variant the lab detected.

Step 3: Convert to Milligrams per Container

The cap is in milligrams per container, but COAs typically report a percentage, mg per gram, or mg per mL. Convert with this table:

Net weight is on the label. If a tincture only lists volume, multiply the mL by about 0.9 to 0.95 g per mL for an oil based product, or ask the brand for the fill weight. A gummy jar's net weight is the weight of one gummy times the count.

The example 30mL tincture: 0.206% total THC × 10 = 2.06 mg per gram. 30 mL × 0.953 g per mL (the CoA lists density) = 28.6 g. 2.06 × 28.6 = about 58.9 mg of total THC in the bottle, about 147 times the 0.4 mg cap. Its delta-9 THC is 0.206%, under 0.3%, so this product passes the old rule and fails the new one.

Step 4: Check the Limit Behind Any Non-Detect

This is the step most retailers miss. ND, or non-detect, means the lab did not find the compound above its limit of detection. It does not mean zero. So a non-detect only proves a product is under the cap if the lab's limit is low enough for the size of the container.

Say a broad spectrum tincture in the same 1 fl oz bottle reports delta-9 THC as ND, with a limit of 0.05%. THC could still be sitting just under that limit: 0.05% × 10 × 28.6 g = up to about 14 mg. The report reads non-detect, and it still cannot show the bottle is under 0.4 mg.

Here is the quick test. The highest total THC a container can hold and stay at the cap is 0.04 divided by the net weight in grams, as a percentage. A lab limit at or below that number can prove a non-detect is under the cap. A limit above it cannot.

Two notes on this test. If the report lists delta-9 THC and THCA separately, each with its own limit, combine the limits the same way as Step 2: the delta-9 limit plus the THCA limit times 0.877. And there is no federal guidance yet on how a non-detect counts toward the cap, so this is the conservative way to read a report, not an official method.

Step 5: Check the Rest of the Report

THC math is only part of it. Check that the lab is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 and independent of the brand, that the safety panel covers pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents, mycotoxins, and microbials, and that the dates make sense. My CBD wholesale buying guide has a quick checklist for that part.

Your Shelf Checklist Before December 11, 2026

Start with the calculator. Run one product at a time through it using the numbers on its COA, and it will put the product in one of three groups: under the cap, over the cap, or can't tell from this report. It shows the math every time, so you can check it.

1. List every hemp product you carry. For each one, write down the container size, net weight, COA lot number, and the calculator's result.
2. Sort them into three groups: clearly under the cap, clearly over, and can't tell. Can't tell means the report has no THCA, no total, or a limit too high for the container. Ask those brands for a better report now, while there is still time.
3. Stop reordering anything in the over group. Plan to sell through what you have before the date, since the law gives no grace period for stock on the shelf.
4. Check the earlier date. Cannabinoids the plant cannot make on its own lose hemp status on November 12, 2026, and lab-made cannabinoids, such as delta-8 converted from CBD, are excluded on December 11, 2026. Ask the brand, and your counsel, which date applies to each product.
5. Check your state. Some states have their own dates and stricter limits, and the federal change does not replace them.
6. Check your payment processor. Processors set their own CBD rules no matter how a product tests. Square told merchants to remove CBD and hemp-derived products by October 15, 2026.
7. Keep your paperwork. Save the COA, the invoice, and your per-container math for each product.
8. Line up replacements. Decide what fills the shelf space before December, not after. Our THC-free broad spectrum products are one option.

Which Products to Check First

Start with the products most likely to land in the over group. These are points to check, not verdicts on any brand, because the COA decides.

• Full spectrum tinctures and gummies, which keep some THC by design
• Large containers, such as 60 count jars, big tubs of balm, and multi-ounce bottles, because the cap does not grow with the container size
• Hemp beverages, since a single 12 oz can weighs about 355 g
• Any product whose COA has no THCA line, no total THC, or a high limit

Topicals belong on the list too. The law covers final hemp products marketed for human or animal use and does not carve out creams or balms, so I would check them the same way.

Where Kyoto Botanicals Fits

I don't like THC, so Kyoto Botanicals has been THC-free for years. Every batch reads ND for every THC variant, including THCA, with a delta-9 THC detection limit of 0.0002%, which is 0.002 mg per gram, or 2 ppm. Each package carries a lot number you can match on our lab results page.

Run the Step 4 test on our tinctures. A 1 fl oz bottle of our mint tincture holds about 27 g of olive oil. Even if delta-9 THC and THCA were both sitting right at our limit, the bottle would hold about 0.1 mg of total THC, roughly a quarter of the cap.

Our Sports Cream COA, Step by Step

Here is the same check on one of my own reports: the (re)CHARGE CBD Sports Cream, batch 26089-06, tested by SC Labs on April 2, 2026.

• Step 1: Batch 26089-06 is printed on the bottom of the bottle and the carton, and it matches the report.
• Step 2: The report prints a Total THC line, calculated as delta-9 THC plus THCA times 0.877, and it reads ND.
• Step 3: This report uses mg per gram, not percent, and the lab lists the unit mass, 105 g, so there is no density to guess.
• Step 4: Count both limits as if THC were sitting right at them: (0.002 + 0.001 × 0.877) mg per gram × 105 g = about 0.30 mg. That is the worst case, and it is still under the cap. The real number is below it.

Compare that with the full spectrum tincture in Step 2: about 58.9 mg in a 1 fl oz bottle, against at most about 0.3 mg in a 4 fl oz cream. Check it yourself in the calculator: pick delta-9 THC and THCA listed separately, choose mg per gram, check ND on both, enter 0.002 and 0.001, then enter 105 g. You can match this batch, and every other one, on our lab results page. Our gummies report total THC as ND as well.

Because there is no minimum order, you can replace a few products from your over group without a big buy. Orders over $250 ship free, and payment is Net 30 on every order, including your first.

Pricing shown is for new accounts. Across all my accounts, first orders have ranged from $100 to $730, and my median order is $330.

Get My THC-Free Wholesale Pricing

See the full terms on the Kyoto Botanicals wholesale program page, or what acupuncture clinics and pharmacies stock from us.

Hemp THC Rule FAQ for Retailers

Last reviewed: October 18, 2026. Note: This page is for education and is not legal advice. Dates and details have changed before and may change again, and as of early September 2026 the FDA had not published its guidance on containers or on which other cannabinoids count. Talk with your own counsel about your products and your state.

Sources: Congressional Research Service, Changes to the Federal Definition of Hemp; Hemp Law Group, Federal Hemp Ban 2026: Where Things Stand; Foley Hoag, A Temporary Reprieve for Hemp-THC Products.