Europe’s New ‘Seed-to-Shelf’ Cannabidiol Blockchain Tracking Tool

Cannabidiol users concerned about the quality of their product in the EU can now trace the plant’s journey from when it was first planted in the fields to when it was sold in retail stores.

An Aug. 6 statement from the Cannabinoid Association of the Netherlands (CAN) revealed it would make a blockchain tool — CanCheck — free for consumers to track cannabidiol (CBD) products in the EU online. HempFlax, one of the group’s founding members, and Europe’s largest independent grower and processor of industrial hemp, will be one of the first to offer traceable CAN products.

CEO Mark Reinders said full traceability would help protect consumers as they could now “trace the production of hemp-derived cannabidiol products from shelf to seed.” 

Regulatory bodies in the EU recently determined that CBD would not be classified as a “food,” and was not subject to the same regulations.

Hemp across the globe

The seed-to-sale concept isn’t limited to CBD organizations in Europe. StrainSecure, a similar blockchain-based cannabis tracker based in North America, announced in January it would be providing DNA-based validation of medical cannabis products. Cannabis is legal in Canada for both recreational and medicinal purposes, but legality in the United States varies state-to-state.

Uruguay, the first country in the world to completely legalize cannabis production and sale, was also one of the first countries with a supply chain tracker using blockchain Aeternity.

Cannabis and crypto

In September, Berkeley City Council member Ben Bartlett used Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and the stablecoin Universal Dollar (UPUSD) to purchase cannabis at a local dispensary. Cannabis is now legal across California, with many dispensaries now accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as payment.