PHARMA FOCUS: CANNABIS
Tracking cannabis from seed to sale
Are you on top of the track-and-trace needs of your medicinal cannabis business? There are many considerations for emerging businesses in the cannabis industry, such as watching your supply chain and the way your products move from seed to sale. The standards and regulations are also tricky to navigate.
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n South Africa, permits and licenses to produce and sell cannabis are currently onerous and legal advice is necessary to participate in this sector. Local market growth has also sparked the need for increased traceability of cannabis and hemp ingredients. The more cannabis is added to pharmaceuticals and beauty products, the more aspects such as chain of custody and the traceability of products become important factors in a supplier’s operations.
"A track-and-trace system should provide strain information and performance data" Cannabis traceability means noting the serial and lot numbers and plant ID to trace a batch back to the specific strain. In addition, data on the weight, health and growing conditions are required for each plant or group of plants in the growing stages throughout their lifecycle. This data is required before you even get to the point of tracing the cannabis along other points in the supply chain.
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A track-and-trace system should also provide strain information and performance data while ensuring that the packing weight is consistent.
EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMPLETE TRACEBILITY Pairing UIDs to products along their supply chain journey will further protect your business and provide you with the trackand-trace insights and supply chain visibility you require to follow plants from growth and distribution to sale. Yet, this is not without its challenges. Providing complete seed-to-sale traceability has created a demand for effective technologies that can ensure everyone involved – including growers, manufacturers, processors and dispensaries – can or will meet existing regulatory requirements. Software from Mitas Corporation can help commercial cannabis growers track every gram of cannabis throughout the lifecycle from seed to delivery to the manufacturer, resulting in increased visibility across all supply chain levels, ultimately ensuring the accountability of growers, processors and producers of finished products.
Once the seedlings are ready to be transferred from the tray to the field, unique polypropylene RFID tags are attached which are specially designed for tree and plant inventory, maintenance and tracking. These tags are customisable with QR log and serial numbers. Each tag is linked to a plant in a tray and refers to the specific strain that connects the individual plant to a particular row within a specific field, so different strains can be planted in the same field.
MONITORING THE ENTIRE FARM Tracking cannabis is not the only solution Mitas Corporation can offer commercial medicinal cannabis growers.
