CUMCS - Control Union Medical Cannabis Standard

Control Union Medical Cannabis Standard GAP (CUMCS-GAP) is globally the leading certification standard for medical cannabis certification. The goal of the standard is to ensure the best quality and consistency in the production of the product.

A growing number of countries have implemented legal frameworks for the cultivation and use of medical cannabis. In December 2020, the UN recognized the medical value of cannabis. As a consequence, the market requires strict adherence to quality systems and cultivation procedures like compliance with guidelines such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) Good Agricultural & Collection Practices (GACP). Therefore, independent verification for compliance by third parties is becoming common practice in the industry. The CUMCS-GAP standard serves as a practical manual for Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) of medical cannabis anywhere in the world and allows for objective auditing by qualified auditors.

CUMCS-GAP has been benchmarked against the Israeli Medical Cannabis Standard (IMC-GAP) towards full equivalency. Therefore, CUMCS-GAP is a recognized and accepted program by the Israeli Medical Cannabis Agency (IMCA) - Ministry of Health, for all imports of medical cannabis into Israel.

The CUMCS-GAP standard is based on:

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines: WHO Guidelines on good agricultural & collection practices (GACP) for medicinal plants - Geneva 2003
• European Medicines Agency (EMA GACP): guideline on Good Agricultural and Collection Practice (GACP) for starting materials of herbal origin(July 2005);
• Guidelines of the Dutch Government for Cannabis for Medical Use: Guidelines for cultivating cannabis for medicinal purposes, Nederland, December 2002;
• International Standard for Good Agriculture Practice: GLOBALG.A.P. IFA 4.0 (FV), March 2013.
• The scope of CUMCS-GAP covers medical Cannabis propagation, cultivation and post-harvest processes and is fully compliant with both the WHO and EMA GACP guidelines. Certified organizations will receive both CUMCS-GAP certificate and   GACP compliance certificate for both the WHO as well as EMA GACP guidelines.

At the end of 2020, medical cannabis farms in the following countries have been certified: Lesotho, Uganda, South Africa, North Macedonia, Portugal, Spain, Canada, and Colombia. Soon also farms in Uruguay, Australia and other European countries will be certified.