As the U.S. member body to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) seeks comments by Dec. 9 on a draft proposal for a new ISO technical committee (TC) focused on safety, security, and good production practices of cannabis facilities and operations.

Continued growth of the cannabis industry — estimated to be valued at $27.7 billion in 2022—and the legalization of cannabis for medicinal and/or recreational use necessitates good production practices and source equipment for various stages of the production process. To that end, in jurisdictions where cannabis production and sales are legal, the cannabis industry presents a unique combination of health, safety, and security issues that are not adequately addressed separately in existing TCs, as the proposal asserts.

The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) — the ISO member for Canada — provided a draft proposal for the new TC, with a scope statement that encompasses standardization in the field of safety, security, and quality systems of cannabis facilities and operations in jurisdictions where such facilities and operations are legal, covering the supply chain for cultivation, processing, production, packaging, distribution, transportation, and retail stores for cannabis and cannabis products.

Standardization includes but is not limited to terminology, methods of tests, cannabis equipment
and their operation, waste disposal, air quality, good production practices, good manufacturing
practices, security of facilities and operations, and related quality management systems.

Read the proposal draft and submit comments to Steven Cornish, ANSI senior director of international policy and strategy, at scornish@ansi.org by close of business on Dec. 9, 2022. Based on input received from U.S. stakeholders, ANSI will send feedback as member of the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB).