Grower groups must certify all their product by creating and maintaining a strong Quality Management System (QMS) and having a percentage of the whole grower group audited each year. Our team works closely with grower groups to build the necessary structure to achieve compliance with the Sustainability Standards. This work includes helping to create a strong QMS system and employee training. To qualify for TCC Grower Group Certification the entity must do several things:

1. The entity (group) must create a Quality Management System (QMS) for the group. This system governs how all the members will conform to the criteria set forth in the TCC Sustainability Standard. This QMS must cover, but is not limited to:

• A. The legal organization of the group – The group must have a formal legal structure that allows it to operate in the area where it is located as well as legally binding members to the group and requiring them to abide by group procedures and structure (contracts);
• B. Details of all production sites (member farms) and a member registry;
• C. Specific requirements for each member;
• D. Management structure of the group must be detailed and include persons who will perform internal inspection and auditing functions;
• E. Document control requirements;
• F. Record Keeping including uniform methods in place for recording and storage of records;
• G. Complaint Procedures detailing how the organization deals with complaints from the public, regulatory officials and customers;
• H. Internal auditing of the group – A yearly internal audit of the group’s QMS is completed and in compliance with the TCC Grower Group Certification requirements;
• I. Production site audits – All sites are audited to the TCC standard yearly by an internal inspector;
• J. Product traceability – A system must be in place that can track all member product through the production system and to the marketplace;
• K. Recall or withdrawal of Products – A robust detailed plan must be in place in the event of a problem with product that requires a recall or withdrawal of product from the marketplace;
• L. Member Sanctions – protocols must be in place that detail how members are sanctioned or ultimately removed from the grower group;
  M. Training of internal inspectors/auditors.

2. The entity must have an external audit by a Cannabis Conservancy Auditor/Auditors. This will cover the QMS and site audits of 20% of the grower group members on an annual basis. This audit includes a 1-3 day audit of the QMS that reviews all the areas noted above including detailed review of the internal audit reports of the whole grower group. Onsite audits are done on a selected group of grower members. This audit selection is designed to reflect the overall composition of the grower group. Farms will be grouped by sizes, geographic locations and other criteria. Farms within each group will be randomly selected to be audited on an annual basis. Once audited, growers are taken out of the pool of auditees so they will not be audited during subsequent audit cycles unless warranted by repeated problems with product, sanctions or other similar circumstances.

Please contact TCC for your Grower Group pricing estimate.