Our man in South Africa, Wesley Petzer, represented Cannavigia at The Cannabis Expo Durban. In addition to hosting our booth, Wesley participated in several panels and gave an impressive presentation to the audience. Continuing Cannavigia’s philosophy of compliance, vigilance and transparency the lecture was focused on sharing knowledge with attendees about the rules and regulations in Europe. It served as an introduction to the European system, the usage of software to adhere to it and how to successful do business with the biggest emerging cannabis market in the world. We talked to Wesley and his idea behind the presentation.
Why would visitors to an African cannabis trade show want to learn about European standards?
This was actually a hot topic of discussion at the conference. European standards become a huge part of what we do in South Africa because ultimately, they are the client and therefore determines the rules. It is THE largest market and if we don’t adhere to their standards, we can’t do business with them. Having this input is very important, especially to cultivators that are unaware of this – until they hear it from actual European clients. A lot of growers tend not to take these rules too seriously until they realise that they can’t export their crop. These rules aren’t flexible and they are there for a specific reason.
What are the aims of GACP?
The aim of the Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) is to regulate everything up and until the plant is cut. It is regulating everything that you are doing to the plant as you are growing it. This is where consumer safety comes in, preventing harmful pesticides and things like that.
What are the aims of GMP?
The Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) are the rules that kick in post-production. They want to know that the product has been treated with care to the standards that they determine.
How can Cannavigia help to stick to these rules?
Cannavigia creates a platform in which you can track everything you do. In terms of GACP you can have a data record of every single thing that happened to that plant all the way to being cut to stem. You can now see what’s been added and if everything has been done correctly and even more importantly you can show your consumer that it falls within the required standards. On the GMP side of things Cannavigia can show you everything about how the product has been handled – harvesting, trimming, recoding waste. You will have a document of everything that has affected the plant and you can use it for transparency. It’s audited, it’s there.
Do you need help with GACP, GMP or other standards? We will be happy to advise you. Contact us here.
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