AHPA Guidelines

All of AHPA’s activities are focused on its mission, which is to promote the responsible commerce of herbal products and are undertaken to maintain and improve market opportunities for companies that sell herbs, herbal and botanical products, and other health-related products, including foods, beverages, dietary supplements, and personal care products, and to ensure that consumers continue to enjoy informed access to a wide choice of goods.

Founded in 1982, AHPA is the oldest of the non-profit organizations that specializes in service to the herbal industry. It is the voice of the herbal products industry and the recognized leader in representing the botanical trade. With more than 300 members, AHPA’s membership represents the finest growers, processors, manufacturers, and marketers of botanical and herbal products.

In 2010 AHPA established a Cannabis Committee tasked with the development of national Recommendations to Regulators that address sensible regulatory practices for hemp, cannabis, and cannabis-derived products. As such, the AHPA’s Cannabis Committee developed a series of Recommendations to Regulators, or guidelines, in the following four areas.

Cultivation and Processing

Intended to establish a basis for oversight of entities that cultivate cannabis in outdoor, greenhouse, and/or indoor facilities, these guidelines address good cultivation practices, pesticide guidance, facility requirements, management of water resources, recordkeeping, product safety recall systems, adverse event recording, and information disclosure. These recommendations also establish best practices and safe handling procedures for operations that provide post-harvest processing of cannabis.

Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling and Holding

Intended to establish a basis for oversight of entities that are engaged in the manufacturing of cannabis and cannabis-derived products, these guidelines are modeled after federally recognized Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for botanical and nutraceutical products. These recommendations ensure that GMP’s are maintained in manufacturing operations by focusing on personnel, physical condition of the plant and surrounding grounds, manufacturing controls, packaging, holding, and labeling controls, cannabis material acquisition, inventory and recordkeeping, complaints, returns, product safety recalls, and adverse event recording.

Distribution

Intended to establish a basis for oversight of entities that provide cannabis and cannabis-derived products directly to compliant individuals through storefront operations, delivery services, direct-from-garden operations, and growing co-op operations, these guidelines focus on personnel, security, product acquisition, record keeping, customer policies, implementable product safety recall systems, adverse event recording, and other matters that can contribute to best practices in the dispensary setting.

Laboratory Analysis

Intended to establish a basis for the oversight of entities performing laboratory analysis of cannabis, cannabis-derived products, and hemp products, these guidelines were developed as a complement to existing good laboratory practices and focus on the personnel, security, sample handling and disposal, data management, personnel safety and hygiene, and reporting activities that may be unique to laboratories analyzing cannabis, cannabis-derived products, and hemp samples. In addition to the AHPA guidelines, PFC certified laboratories are also required to adhere to the standards presented in the AHP Cannabis Monograph.