Kratom is in a legal gray zone in Germany. It is not listed as a controlled substance, so having it for personal use is not a drug crime, but German food-safety and pharmaceutical laws make it effectively illegal to sell, and shipments ordered from abroad are regularly seized at the border. Whether kratom is legal in Germany depends less on possession than on what you are trying to do with it.
Possession Is Not a Criminal Offense
Germany’s Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz, or BtMG) maintains three schedules of controlled substances. Neither kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) nor its active alkaloids mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine appear on any of them. That means kratom does not trigger the criminal penalties that attach to possessing, trafficking, or manufacturing a scheduled narcotic.
The 2016 New Psychoactive Substances Act (NpSG), which bans whole chemical families of designer drugs, also does not cover kratom. Mitragynine is an indole alkaloid but does not match the tryptamine backbone the law targets, and kratom’s alkaloids fall outside the other four groups the NpSG lists.1Bundesgesundheitsministerium. New Psychoactive Substances Act Banning kratom through the NpSG would require Parliament to add a new chemical group.
In practical terms, there is no defined personal-possession quantity in German law, and police action over personal amounts is essentially unheard of. The legal pressure sits elsewhere.
Why Selling Kratom Is Effectively Prohibited
The decisive rule for commerce is EU Regulation 2015/2283. Any food not consumed to a significant degree within the European Union before May 15, 1997, is classified as a “novel food” and cannot be sold until it receives specific authorization and is added to the Union list.2EUR-Lex. Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on Novel Foods Kratom has no such history of European food use, no one has obtained authorization for it, and the European Commission’s food safety alert system treats Mitragyna speciosa as an unauthorized novel food. Selling kratom as tea, powder, capsules, or a food supplement is therefore prohibited across the EU, Germany included.
German authorities enforce this. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has warned that kratom preparations can be classified as unauthorized novel foods or unsafe foods, either of which blocks legal marketing. The BfR has also stated that the overall legal classification of kratom products “is currently unclear in Germany and is the responsibility of the supervisory authorities of the individual federal states,” so enforcement can vary from one state to another.3German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Kratom Preparations: Consumption May Cause Health Problems
A second layer applies if a seller makes any health claim. Under the Medicinal Products Act (Arzneimittelgesetz, or AMG), a product marketed as treating pain, easing withdrawal, or addressing any medical condition can be reclassified as a medicinal product. German customs has noted that herbal items freely sold abroad may be treated as medicinal products in Germany when they are presented as treatments for illness.4Customs (Zoll). Customs Online – Medicinal Products and Narcotics In early July 2025, the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) issued a direct warning against using kratom for medical purposes, stating that no kratom preparation is approved as a medicinal product and that its safety and efficacy have not been sufficiently tested. Without marketing authorization, selling kratom as a medicine is illegal.
What Happens If You Order Kratom From Abroad
Importing is where personal buyers most often hit trouble. German customs can intercept kratom shipments, and if a package looks like it contains a product intended for human consumption, customs may seize it as an unauthorized novel food or an unapproved medicinal product. This applies even when you ordered it for your own use; the question is how the product is classified, not why you wanted it.4Customs (Zoll). Customs Online – Medicinal Products and Narcotics
After a seizure, customs will notify you. You then have two weeks from that notification to lodge an objection. If you let the window pass, the goods are permanently forfeited. If you do object, the matter moves into a legal proceeding where you would have to show the shipment does not violate the applicable rules, which is a difficult argument given kratom’s current regulatory status.
Penalties for Sellers and Importers
The consequences for commercial violations depend on which law applies.
The AMG carries the heavier exposure. Placing an unauthorized medicinal product on the market can lead to up to three years of imprisonment or a fine. In particularly serious cases, such as endangering a large number of people or acting out of significant financial self-interest, the range rises to one to ten years. Negligent violations can still bring up to one year of imprisonment or a fine.5Gesetze im Internet. Germany Code AMG – Medicinal Products Act
Novel food violations are typically handled as administrative offenses under the Food and Feed Code (Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch, or LFGB). Fines can reach €20,000, €50,000, or €100,000 depending on the type of violation, and repeat conduct or violations that endanger public health can push penalties higher.
How Germany Compares With Other European Countries
Germany sits in the middle of the European spectrum. Poland, Finland, and Norway classify kratom under their national drug laws. Denmark bans it outright, with narrow physician exceptions. Sweden permits possession of raw leaf but has placed mitragynine on its controlled substances list, which makes concentrated products illegal. At the other end, the Czech Republic allows sales to adults under a licensing and testing framework.
What makes Germany unusual is that it has never explicitly banned or explicitly authorized kratom. The plant exists in regulatory limbo: legal to possess, commercially restricted by food and pharmaceutical rules that were not written with kratom in mind, and subject to state-level enforcement discretion. That ambiguity cuts both ways. Personal users face little direct risk today, but the classification could shift if federal authorities or the EU decide to act.