Proposed Regulations Released for Certification of Comparable-to-Organic Standards for Cannabis
May 1, 2020
by Omar Figueroa
On April 30, 2020, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) released the proposed regulations for the OCal Program, a statewide certification program that will establish and enforce cannabis standards that are comparable-to-organic. (Given federal oversight over the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic seal, the standards cannot be officially designated as organic, and thus are referred to as comparable-to-organic.)
The OCal Program is designed to ensure that cannabis products bearing the OCal seal (shown above) have been certified to consistent, uniform standards comparable to the National Organic Program.
The proposed regulations consist of 66 pages, and would add a new chapter to the Cannabis Cultivation regulations in the California Code of Regulations. The chapter would be entitled “OCal Program” and be organized into eight articles:
Article 1. Definitions.
Article 2. Applicability
Article 3. OCal Cultivation and Distribution Requirements
Article 4. Labels, Labeling, and Market Information
Article 5. Accreditation and Registration of Certifying Agents
Article 6. Certification of Operations
Article 7. Fees
Article 8. Compliance
The release of the proposed regulations marks the official start of the public comment period. Comments may be submitted until July 7, 2020, via email to CDFA.CalCannabis_OCal@cdfa.ca.gov or via snail-mail to:
California Department of Food and Agriculture
Attention: Kristi Armstrong
CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division
Proposed OCal Regulations
P.O. Box 942871
Sacramento, CA 94271
A convenient handout with all necessary information to submit comments is available here.
The handout includes tips on how to make effective comments, such as:
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Be concise and focus only on the proposed OCal regulations.
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Identify the specific part of the proposed regulations you are commenting on (if possible, indicate the regulation section number you are referencing).
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Include supporting evidence and facts, and provide complete references and/or citations, particularly if you are referring to a website (for example, provide the specific website URL).
Stay tuned; more details and analysis coming soon!