Content Description

This document specifies requirements and recommendations for organizations directly or indirectly involved in the cannabis supply chain, to enable them to:

—    plan, implement, operate, maintain and update a good production practice programme for providing products that are safe, according to their intended use;

—    demonstrate compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements;

—    evaluate and assess mutually agreed customer requirements and demonstrate conformity to them;

—    effectively communicate with interested parties and demonstrate conformity to relevant interested parties;

—    demonstrate conformity to stated policies in a cannabis quality programme (CQP) for product safety, product quality, product security and facility safety;

—    support the evaluation of quality programmes by external organizations or to permit self-assessment or self-declaration of adherence to some or all of the guidance contained in this document.

All requirements in this document are generic and intended to be applicable to all organizations in the cannabis supply chain, regardless of size and/or complexity. Organizations that are directly or indirectly involved include (but are not limited to) growers/cultivators, harvesters, primary processors, producers of cannabis, manufacturers of cannabis derivatives, cannabis edibles and/or cannabis products, testing providers, retailers and organizations providing transportation, storage and distribution services, suppliers of equipment, packaging materials and other contact materials.

This document intended to enable any organization, including small and/or less developed organizations, to implement externally developed elements in its CQP.

NOTE 1       Organizations in the cannabis supply chain are diverse in nature and not all the requirements specified in this document apply to each establishment or process. Justifications for exclusions or the use of alternative measures can be documented by a risk assessment/hazard analysis or other appropriate means.

This document provides guidance related to the following categories of cannabis, cannabis derivatives and cannabis products:

—    cannabis plant seeds;

—    cannabis plants;

—    fresh cannabis;

—    dried cannabis;

—    cannabis derivatives;

—    cannabis topicals;

—    inhalable cannabis.

NOTE 2   Annex B provides additional guidance on applying GPP to cannabis edibles with respect to requirements and recommendations in existing food safety standards.

Where buildings or premises combine cultivation and processing of cannabis plants, including ancillary activities, along with other operational activities, the requirements and recommendations in this document apply only to that portion of the facility.

NOTE 3   Where joint use activities are present in a common building, specific statutory and regulatory requirements can apply for each category.

This document does not address the following:

—    requirements related to research and development activities for finished products;

—    general fire prevention or building construction features that are normally a function of local building and fire codes where applicable;

—    premises used exclusively for operational activities, such as office space, call centres and retail outlets, used for the distribution, marketing, or sale of cannabis;

NOTE 4       Shipping and receiving of products from the production facility for further distribution are not considered as a retail outlet.

—    the safe consumption or use of the cannabis or cannabis products produced by organizations applying these good production practices;

—    occupational health and safety requirements governing cannabis workers and personnel except as identified in A.8.4 and A.8.6;

—    the protection of the environment;

—    security of the supply chain monitoring system, including cybersecurity and notifications;

NOTE 5       Security and monitoring of the supply chain are dealt with specifically in IWA 37-2.

—    outdoor cultivation of cannabis and industrial hemp;

—    growing of cannabis intended for personal use;

—           the use of cannabinoids as ingredients that are derived from plants other than cannabis, or derived from other organisms, or created synthetically

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