MENDOCINO CO., 6/07/17 — The county’s cannabis cultivation permit program is under way, and for growers who have applied to the program, a new layer of compliance will soon be implemented: a “track and trace” system designed to electronically record and track legal cannabis plants “from seed to sale,” as plants make their way through the commercial medical cannabis market.
Participation in a similar statewide system will be required of all licensed cultivators and cannabis business owners once the state issues licenses in 2018, but Mendocino County has selected a vendor and will be implementing a pilot program this year for cultivators and cannabis business owners in the county’s permit program. The selected vendor, SICPA, will be holding a series of educational workshops on June 14 and 15 in Fort Bragg, Boonville, Laytonville, and Ukiah to help local cannabis growers and cultivators learn how to use the system.
SICPA will provide the county with “track and trace” services that are expected to be compatible with whatever system the state selects when the new statewide cannabis business licensing is implemented in January, 2018. SICPA, a Swiss-based company, also provides services for California tobacco-tax tracking, wine and vineyard associations, partnered with Humboldt County’s cannabis permit program to implement a pilot program last August, called the Humboldt “proof of origin.” SICPA is also working with Yolo County’s cannabis cultivation program. You can watch a video about their cannabis tracking products here.
In a June 7 statement, Mendocino County Chief Executive Officer, Carmel J. Angelo stated, “SICPA’s program will allow the County to track and trace medical cannabis products throughout the supply chain. This will assist the County’s code enforcement program and provide the County with a unique brand identifier for Mendocino County cannabis products.” She continued, “We are pleased to partner with SICPA, a global leader in track and trace with extensive experience in California.”
The workshops will be hosted by the County and SICPA, and a partner company called Force 10 “will be providing training and user support services” for Mendocino’s program, according to the press release. The workshops will be two hours long and cultivators are asked to register in advance; details for the individual events are listed below. The pilot program is intended to apply to permitted cannabis cultivators and operations of cannabis businesses located in the unincorporated parts of the county, and involves a system of stamps with a QR code and a unique identifier that can be electronically scanned with an app or onto a website. Humboldt’s program can
Diane Curry, Mendocino County’s Interim Ag Commissioner, said the county had received about 300 cannabis cultivation permit applications before the end of May, with an additional flood of cultivators turning in applications in the last two weeks after raids resulted in fearful growers, a swirl of rumors, and a new county statement clarifying the permit application procedure with the Ag Department. Curry explained that SICPA will be leading the public outreach workshops to help cannabis cultivators and business owners learn how to use the system.
In public meetings prior to the SICPA’s selection, local cultivators expressed concern about how the service would work in remote rural locations, how a pilot program located within a single county could adequately track cannabis through a statewide legal market, whether a pilot program would be compatible with the yet-to-be-decided state “track and trace” program, as well as expressing concerns about the cost of participation on top of other compliance costs. SICPA’s costs are estimated to be slightly less than $100/month with additional handling fees and a cost per each identifier stamp purchased.
For more information or to register for the event contact the Executive Office at (707) 463-4441 or [email protected]. For more information regarding the County’s Cannabis permit and license program, visit this website or call the County’s toll free new “one-stop” Cannabis Hotline: (844) 421-WEED (7333). You can also read the county’s full press release here.
Workshops will be held at the following dates/locations:
Wednesday, June 14:
- Fort Bragg: 10am – 12pm, Fort Bragg Town Hall, 363 N. Main Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437.
- Boonville: 3 – 5pm, Boonville Veterans Building, 14470 Highway 128, Boonville, CA 95415.
Thursday, June 15:
- Laytonville: 10am – 12pm, Harwood Hall, 44400 Willis Avenue, Laytonville, CA 95454.
- Ukiah: 4 – 6pm, Ukiah Veterans Building, 293 Seminary Avenue, .Ukiah, CA 95482
Kate B. Maxwell, [email protected].
