Texas Retail Hemp and CBD Registration Requirements

To sell CBD or other consumable hemp products at retail in Texas, you need a Texas retail hemp registration from the Department of State Health Services (DSHS). It costs $155 per location, lasts one year, and must be in place before you sell a single product.¹ The registration is only the entry ticket. Texas has tightened its hemp rules significantly since 2025, and federal law adds its own layer on top, so what you can actually stock and how you can advertise it are governed by more than the registration itself.

Who Has to Register

Texas Health and Safety Code Section 443.2025 makes it unlawful for any person to sell consumable hemp products containing cannabidiol at retail without first registering each sales location with DSHS.² “Person” here covers individuals, corporations, LLCs, partnerships, and other business entities. The requirement reaches brick-and-mortar stores, kiosks, farmers market vendors, and any other physical retail location in Texas.

If you operate more than one location under the same ownership, DSHS can issue a single registration covering all of them rather than requiring a separate application for every storefront.²

Two groups do not need their own registration. Employees of a registered business are covered under the business’s registration, and so are independent contractors who sell a registrant’s products at retail.² The registration attaches to the business, not to individual salespeople. Separately, low-THC cannabis dispensed through the state’s Compassionate Use Program under Chapter 487 is not covered by this section; that is a different program with its own licensing.

Which Products Trigger the Requirement

A consumable hemp product is defined as a food, drug, device, or cosmetic containing hemp or one or more hemp-derived cannabinoids, including CBD.³ In practice that covers CBD oils, tinctures, gummies, capsules, hemp-infused beverages, topical lotions and creams, and similar items intended for human use. Section 443.2025’s registration requirement specifically targets products containing cannabidiol, so a shop selling only raw hemp fiber, hemp clothing, or hemp seed oil without added cannabinoids sits outside the mandate.

Hemp seed ingredients like hulled hemp seeds, hemp seed protein powder, and plain hemp seed oil have been evaluated separately by the FDA and are generally recognized as safe for food use.⁴ Selling those on their own does not trigger the Texas retail registration.

How to Apply

Applications run through the DSHS Regulatory Services Online Licensing System, the same portal the agency uses for its other food and drug safety licenses.⁵ Have these ready before you start:

Legal entity name as registered with the Texas Secretary of State.
Physical street address for each location where products will be sold.
Business phone number and email.
Any DBA name if the business operates under something other than its legal entity name.

Corporations and LLCs should also have registered agent information on hand, since the state uses it for official correspondence. Make sure every address matches what appears on your other state filings; mismatched information is one of the most common reasons applications stall.

The portal accepts major credit cards and electronic checks. You’ll enter a digital signature affirming the information is accurate, and a confirmation page with a tracking number appears on submission. Keep that number.

Fee, Renewal, and Displaying Your Certificate

The fee is $155 per location, which includes the Texas Online processing charge.¹ Multi-location businesses may qualify for a single registration covering all sites under the DSHS fee schedule.²

Each registration is valid for one year from the date of issuance and must be renewed annually.² DSHS expects the certificate to be posted at the business location. If yours is lost or damaged, you can reprint it through the DSHS Online Licensing Services page by searching your registration number or ownership name.⁶ A reprint does not push out your expiration date. Track your renewal yourself; selling with an expired registration puts you out of compliance.

Labeling the Products on Your Shelves

Registration lets you sell, but only if the products themselves are labeled correctly. DSHS requires each consumable hemp product intended for individual retail sale to carry:⁷

A batch or lot number tying the product to a specific production run.
The batch date.
The product name as marketed to consumers.
A URL that provides or links to a certificate of analysis (COA) for the product or each hemp-derived ingredient.
Manufacturer name, phone number, and email.
A statement certifying that delta-9 THC concentration does not exceed 0.3 percent.

The URL is mandatory. A QR code can supplement it but does not replace it.⁷ The COA behind that URL must come from an independent third-party lab and verify both the THC level and the absence of harmful contaminants. As the retailer, you are responsible for confirming that products meet these labeling standards before they go on display. Incomplete labels from a supplier become your compliance problem the moment the product is on the shelf.

Records and Inspections

DSHS expects retailers to keep batch records and COAs for every product sold and to produce them for inspection during compliance checks. That means tracking when each product arrived, which supplier it came from, and holding onto the matching COA. If an inspector asks for records on products currently on your shelves and you can’t produce them, consequences can range from fines to revocation of your registration.

This is where retailers most often stumble. The products may be fine. The paper trail is what breaks. File COAs when inventory arrives rather than reconstructing them later. Digital storage is fine as long as you can pull documents up quickly during an inspection.

Products You Can No Longer Sell

Even a current registration will not protect you if you stock products that Texas has since taken off the table. Two recent changes matter, and one open case bears watching.

Cannabinoid Vapes and E-Cigarettes

As of September 2025, Texas prohibits the sale of any e-cigarette or vape product containing cannabinoids, including CBD and delta-8 THC. Under Section 161.0876 of the Health and Safety Code, marketing or selling these products is a Class A misdemeanor, which in Texas carries up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.⁸ Any CBD vape cartridges or delta-8 vape pens must come off your shelves.

Smokable Hemp Under the THCA Rule

In March 2026, DSHS adopted a rule under 25 Texas Administrative Code Section 300.101 that folds THCA into the calculation of a product’s THC concentration.⁸ THCA is non-psychoactive on its own but converts to delta-9 THC when heated. Smokable hemp typically contains enough THCA that, once counted, the product exceeds the 0.3 percent legal ceiling. The practical effect once the rule takes effect on March 31, 2026 is that smokable hemp products are effectively banned.

Delta-8 THC Is Unsettled

DSHS initially classified delta-8 as a Schedule I controlled substance. A court then issued a temporary injunction removing it from the controlled substances list while litigation continues, and the case is currently pending before the Texas Supreme Court.⁸ A final ruling could either confirm delta-8’s legality or reclassify it overnight. If you carry delta-8 products, watch this case. The vape ban already knocks out delta-8 in e-cigarette form regardless of how the court rules.

Federal Rules That Still Apply

A Texas registration does not shield you from federal law, and the federal picture for CBD is tighter than the state picture.

FDA Position on CBD in Food and Supplements

The FDA has not approved CBD as a food additive or dietary supplement ingredient. Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, adding THC or CBD to food and introducing it into interstate commerce is a prohibited act, and the FDA has concluded that CBD is excluded from the dietary supplement definition because it is the active ingredient in the approved prescription drug Epidiolex.⁴ Texas regulates the retail sale of these products; the FDA’s position is that they should not be marketed as food or supplements at all. FDA enforcement has largely focused on companies making specific therapeutic claims rather than on general retailers, but the conflict has never been formally resolved.

Advertising and Health Claims

The FTC holds CBD products to the same advertising standards as any other consumer product. Any health-related claim must be backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence, and claims about preventing, treating, or curing serious disease require human clinical trials.⁹ The FTC has issued warning letters and brought enforcement actions against companies claiming CBD cures cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and similar conditions.¹⁰

Watch your in-store signage, social media, and product descriptions. If a supplier hands you marketing materials claiming their oil treats anxiety, chronic pain, or insomnia, using those materials puts you at risk. Describe what the product contains and how it’s used. Leave disease claims out.

Payment Processing Runs Harder Than Normal Retail

One practical wrinkle catches new hemp retailers off guard: routine financial services are harder to get. Payment processors often classify hemp and CBD businesses as high-risk, which drives up processing fees, narrows your payment options, and creates the possibility of a merchant account closing with little warning. Some businesses have used workarounds like cashless ATMs, but those arrangements carry their own compliance risks and can be shut down abruptly. Budget for processing fees well above what a typical retail business pays, and keep a backup payment solution ready so your business does not go dark if a processor drops you.

1
Texas Department of State Health Services. Consumable Hemp Program
2
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 443.2025 – Registration Required for Retailers of Certain Products
3
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 443.001 – Definitions
4
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Regulation of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Products, Including Cannabidiol (CBD)
5
Texas Department of State Health Services. Regulatory Services Online Licensing System
6
Texas Department of State Health Services. Licensing and Registration
7
Texas Department of State Health Services. Consumable Hemp Program – Labeling
8
Texas State Law Library. CBD and Delta-8 – Cannabis and the Law
9
Federal Trade Commission. Making CBD Health Claims? Careful Before Disseminating
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Federal Trade Commission. One Thing Marketers of CBD Products Need to Know Right Now