Virginia Administrative Code › Title 3 - ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE AND CANNABIS CONTROL › Agency 10 - VIRGINIA CANNABIS CONTROL AUTHORITY › Chapter 60 - TESTING OF CANNABIS PRODUCTS › Section 3VAC10-60-20 - Laboratory requirements

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. No
				pharmaceutical processor or cannabis cultivation facility shall utilize a
				laboratory to handle, test, or analyze cannabis products unless such
				laboratory:
1. Is independent from all other
				persons involved in the cannabis industry in Virginia, which shall mean that no
				person with a direct or indirect interest in the laboratory shall have a direct
				or indirect financial interest in a pharmacist, pharmaceutical processor,
				cannabis dispensing facility, certifying practitioner, or any other entity that
				may benefit from the production, manufacture, dispensing, sale, purchase, or
				use of cannabis products;
2. Has
				employed at least one person to oversee and be responsible for the laboratory
				testing who has earned from a college or university accredited by a national or
				regional certifying authority at least (i) a master's level degree in chemical
				or biological sciences and a minimum of two years of post-degree laboratory
				experience or (ii) a bachelor's degree in chemical or biological sciences and a
				minimum of four years of post-degree laboratory experience;
3. Has obtained a controlled substances
				registration certificate pursuant to §
										54.1-3423 of the Code of
				Virginia authorizing the testing of cannabis products;
4. Has provided proof to the board of
				accreditation in testing and calibration in accordance with the most current
				version of the International Standard for Organization and the ISO/IEC 17025 or
				proof that the laboratory has applied for accreditation in testing and
				calibration in the most current version of ISO/IEC 17025. Any testing and
				calibration method utilized to perform a cannabis-related analysis for
				pharmaceutical processors shall be in accordance with the laboratory's ISO/IEC
				17025 accreditation. The accrediting body shall be recognized by International
				Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation.
a. A
				laboratory applying for authorization to provide cannabis-related analytical
				tests for pharmaceutical processors shall receive ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation
				within two years from the date the laboratory applied for ISO/IEC 17025
				accreditation. A laboratory may request, and the board may grant for good cause
				shown, additional time for the laboratory to receive ISO/IEC 17025
				accreditation.
b. A laboratory
				shall send proof of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation to the board for
				cannabis-related analytical test methods for pharmaceutical processors for
				which it has received ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation no later than five business
				days after the date in which the accreditation was received.
c. A laboratory may use nonaccredited
				analytical test methods so long as the laboratory has commenced an application
				for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for analytical test methods for
				cannabis-related analysis for pharmaceutical processors. No laboratory shall
				use nonaccredited analytical test methods for cannabis-related analysis for
				pharmaceutical processors if it has applied for and has not received ISO/IEC
				17025 accreditation within two years. The laboratory may request, and the board
				may grant for good cause shown, additional time for the laboratory to utilize
				nonaccredited analytical test methods for cannabis-related analysis.
d. At such time that a laboratory loses its
				ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for any cannabis-related analytical test methods
				for pharmaceutical processors, it shall inform the board within 24 hours. The
				laboratory shall immediately stop handling, testing, or analyzing cannabis for
				pharmaceutical processors; and
5. Complies with a transportation protocol
				for transporting cannabis or cannabis products to or from itself or to or from
				pharmaceutical processors.