N.J. Admin. Code § 17:30-19.1

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 17, September 3, 2024

Section 17:30-19.1 - Commission quality control testing; sample collection; chain of custody

(a) To ensure the safety of consumers, a cannabis business shall provide upon request of the Commission one or more samples of usable cannabis or cannabis product to the Commission during announced and unannounced inspections for product quality control, including, but not limited to:

1. A sample from a batch of usable cannabis from the first harvest of a new cultivar; and

2. A unit or units of packaged usable cannabis or cannabis product available for distribution to consumers.

(b) To implement the requirements at (a) above, the Commission shall:

1. Collect soil and plant samples and samples of usable cannabis or cannabis product from the cannabis business, as applicable;

2. Place the license number of the cannabis business on each sample container;

3. Label the sample containers with the date of the sampling, the name of the cultivar/strain, and the quantity of its contents by weight;

4. Seal the sample containers;

5. Have a member of the cannabis business staff and Commission staff initial each sample container; and

6. Have Commission staff transport all sample containers in a lockable box to the New Jersey Department of Health's Public Health and Environmental Laboratories (PHEL) or a licensed testing laboratory for testing.

(c) The Commission shall maintain documentation of the chain of custody of any sample taken in accordance with this chapter.

1. The Commission shall provide a receipt for any collected sample to the license holder representative of the cannabis business.

2. The Commission shall maintain an accounting of all collected sample containers for control purposes, including the Medicinal Marijuana Testing Laboratories Specimen Submittal form, incorporated herein by reference, as amended or supplemented, and found on its website at http://www.nj.gov/health/phel/documents/ECLS/CTL-1.pdf.

(d) The Commission shall use PHEL or a licensed testing laboratory to test samples.

1. Sample testing may include tests for, among other things, cannabinoid content, the presence of pests, mold and mycotoxins, mildew, heavy metals, and pesticides to ensure the accuracy of labeling.

2. PHEL shall conduct testing according to the following "Laboratory SOPs for Medicinal Marijuana," which are incorporated herein by reference, as amended or supplemented, and found on its website at http://www.nj.gov/health/phel/env-testing/chemical-terrorism-lab/:

i. Standard Operation Procedure for Qualitative and Quantitative Determination of Major Cannabinoids in Cannabis Plant Material;

ii. Standard Operating Procedure for the Screening of Marijuana for Toxic Metals by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry; and

iii. Assessing Presence of Aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A in Medical Marijuana Using HPLC.

3. The Department shall issue written reports of the results of its testing to the cannabis business.

4. The cannabis business shall pay the expenses for the testing.

(e) The first harvest of a new cultivar shall be segregated until the cannabis business receives the written report that the sample meets specifications, and the batch may be released for distribution.

(f) A written report that the sample does not meet specifications shall yield further testing by PHEL or a testing laboratory of that batch or lot and other batches from the same growth area or lots from the same manufacturing area and may yield a recall and destruction of the usable cannabis or cannabis products, as determined by the Commission.

N.J. Admin. Code § 17:30-19.1

Recodified from 17:30-16.1 by 55 N.J.R. 402(a), effective 3/6/2023