CDFA Proposes Changes to Cannabis Appellations Regulations
March 1, 2024
By Lauren Mendelsohn
The California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) has proposed modifications to its regulations pertaining to the Cannabis Appellation Program (CAP). Public comments are due by midnight on March 19, 2024, and a virtual public hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 19 from 11:00am to 1:00 pm. CDFA will post a link to the meeting on its website that morning.
The proposed text of CDFA’s modified regulations, as well as supporting documents, can be found here:
We previously discussed the CAP here, here, here, here, here and here. The program is groundbreaking in that it is the first attempt in the world to create a system of appellations of origin for cannabis, similar to what exists at the international level for cheese, wine, and other craft products that are influenced by the geographic region in which they are made.
Notably, the CAP is more rigorous than the American Viticultural Area (AVA) system for wine, which does not require that the grapes be planted directly in the ground or that 100% of the grapes be grown in a particular AVA in order to claim that AVA when the end product is being marketed. In contrast, 100% of the cannabis in an end product would need to be grown directly in the ground within the boundaries of a designated appellation in order for the end product to use the name of that appellation.
Also notably, before cannabis operators can begin claiming that their cannabis was grown in a particular appellation, these appellations themselves need to be created through a methodical petition process that takes into account factors such as the “distinctive geographical features affecting cannabis produced in the boundary of the proposed appellation of origin,” all “standard, practice, and cultivar requirements of the proposed appellation of origin,” evidence of historical use of the proposed appellation name, the proposed boundaries of the appellation, and “practice requirements” to ensure that the appellation name is only used by cannabis planted in the ground without the use of structures or artificial light (see 3 C.C.R. §9106).
The newly proposed changes deal with record-keeping requirements for cultivators using an established appellation of origin in their advertising, marketing, branding, or packaging (see proposed changes to 3 C.C.R. §9301); and the “Notice of Use” that must be filed by a licensed cultivator wishing to use an established appellation (see proposed changes to 3 C.C.R. §9302). Additionally, CDFA is seeking to define “Produced” as meaning the following:
(i) the cannabis was cultivated within that geographical area starting from the time the plants were no taller or wider than 18 inches; and
(ii) all remaining cultivation activities occurred within that geographical area, inclusive of planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, and trimming of cannabis.
(See proposed changes to 3 C.C.R. §9000(g)). This is particularly significant since 100% of the cannabis in a product must be “produced” within an appellation of origin in order to use the name of that appellation in its marketing – meaning that not only would all of the cannabis have to be grown and harvested there, but also dried, cured, graded, and trimmed within the appellation boundaries, which will make it difficult if not impossible for many farmers who have their crop processed off-site to participate in the program.
The current proposed changes also seek to remove one of the petition requirements that likely would have been difficult to substantiate (“Identification of at least one specific standard, practice, or cultivar requirement which acts to preserve the causal link(s) between one or more distinctive geographical feature(s) and the cannabis”).
Public comments on the proposed regulations can be submitted by March 19 to:
Cannabis Appellations Program
California Department of Food and Agriculture
Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation
1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
CannabisAg@cdfa.ca.gov
Stay tuned to our blog for more information about cannabis appellations of origin in California.
This information is provided as a public educational service and is not intended, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For specific questions regarding cannabis appellations in California, please contact the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa at 707-829-0215 or info@omarfigueroa.com to schedule a confidential legal consultation.