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The EU is tweaking the GACP

March 29, 2022 | Category : Cannabis Knowledge | Posted By : Deon Maas

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Growing medicinal cannabis is a business in its infancy and therefore the laws tend to change a lot.

The “Guideline on good agricultural and collection practice for starting materials of herbal origin” was published in 2006. In order to guarantee that the guideline reflect the state of the art and practical experiences, a revision is proposed. In other words: The EU is tweaking the GACP.

What is the revision of the GACP about?

The revision of the guideline will address the need for clarification and consistency – the limits and overlap of GMP vs GACP, diverse practice in member states, uncertainty about requirements, certification and dossier submission and comparison to other GACP standards such as those established by World Health Organisation. 

The idea is to pull everything in line and enhance coherence with other EU directives and regulations like water, soil and pesticides. This streamlining of the legislation will obviously make it easier to negotiate the path forward for the people involved in growing. 

Your input is needed on how the EU is tweaking the GACP

They are keen to hear suggestions from people in the business and have made it easy to voice your opinion. They have a ready template for you to fill in your suggestions here. The closing date for suggestions is 1 June 2022. 

The revised guideline is expected to facilitate a better understanding of applicable requirements for assuring and demonstrating that herbal starting materials were collected and/or cultivated in compliance with GACP. 

Cannavigia is watching this development and revision of the EU-GACP closely and will be ready to help growers continue complying with it, no matter how big or small the revisions are. 

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