September 6, 2017 – SICPA has announced progress in their partnership with Yolo County in California to implement the SICPATRACE® Cannabis Control and Compliance System – implemented in California under the CalOrigin brand name. SICPATRACE® allows county officials to track cannabis products from cultivator to dispensary, helping ensure regulatory compliance and protecting public health. Furthermore, by providing proof of origin, the solution allows Yolo officials, producers and distributors to develop recognizable brands for locally produced, high-quality, tested and safe products, according to a press release.
“The customizable SICPATRACE® solution, combined with SICPA’s local approach to training and on-site support throughout the implementation process, has allowed operators at 68 registered sites in Yolo County to tag more than 88,000 plants since March, providing local officials with far greater insight into cannabis products as they move through the supply chain,” said SICPA Vice President and Director of Business Development Alex Spelman.
The SICPATRACE® solution combines counterfeit-resistant stamps, traceability and enforcement tools and data management services, as well as ongoing support and training for the industry participants. In Yolo County, SICPA has worked continuously with cultivators to provide compliance support, and has participated in more than a dozen inspections with local officials, providing on-the-spot training and guidance to cultivators on how to use the system effectively.
“Our partnership with SICPA has enabled us to bring greater transparency to the cannabis supply chain in Yolo County, allowing for more reliable enforcement, generating greater confidence for consumers, and enabling product safety testing,” said Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner John Young, “and SICPA’s ongoing support has streamlined implementation for cultivators, distributors, and officials.”
“The CalOrigin solution not only brings greater transparency to the supply chain, but will enable county officials and industry leaders to advance the Yolo County brands or appellations in the cannabis marketplace. With the SICPA proof of origin solution, California patients and consumers can fully verify the sourcing of Yolo-produced cannabis, validate testing results and see specific attributes of products such as sun-grown or ‘sustainably farmed’ certifications,” said Spelman.
How It Works
Once government regulators approve cannabis business licenses, licensees are given access to a secure, online system that allows them to share key information with other system users throughout the supply chain.
Through a combination of counterfeit resistant stamps and the secure online system, products can be tracked from the individual plant level all the way to point of sale. As a product moves through the supply chain—from cultivator to manufacturer to distributor to dispensary—more information is added to the online system and associated with a particular stamp, and this essentially creates a map of a product’s journey through the system.
The stamps also connect patients to product information through a CalOrigin smartphone app and website (www.calorigin.org). Patients can use these tools to make sure a stamp is valid, retrieve product details, see test results and more.
Program Benefits
SICPA’s cannabis control solution provides many benefits to program participants. For government officials and law enforcement, the solution offers:
- Visibility across the entire supply chain
- Ability to quickly authenticate products and ensure they are produced legally
- Ability to identify suspicious behavior and investigate possible threats
For growers, manufacturers, distributors, and dispensaries, the solution offers:
- Simple and efficient on-ramp to compliance
- Supply chain visibility
- An app and website that connects them with patients
Patients and consumers can count on the solution to:
- Validate cannabis stamps
- Ensure they are getting the right products for them