What Is GACP-Certified Cannabis?

GACP – Good Agricultural and Collection Practices – is the quality standard for cultivating and collecting medicinal plants, including cannabis. Derived from WHO guidelines, it requires documented cultivation, hygiene, traceability and record-keeping. In Thailand, GACP certification is issued under the Ministry of Public Health (DTAM); EU-GACP is the European equivalent, audited by independent certification bodies.

GACP in plain terms

A GACP-certified farm grows to a documented, repeatable procedure: every input, environment setting and handling step is recorded, so each batch is traceable and can be independently tested. To see how these requirements translate into day-to-day operations, read our GACP SOPs at a working cannabis farm.

Thai GACP vs EU-GACP

What GACP means for buyers

• Batch consistency – documented, repeatable cultivation instead of ad-hoc growing.
• Verifiable quality – a certificate you can check plus a third-party COA you can test against.
• Supply-chain eligibility – licensed medical supply chains and export routes ask for it.

GACP vs GMP – different stages

GACP covers the cultivation and collection of the plant. GMP – Good Manufacturing Practice – covers the manufacturing of finished medicinal products, a later stage of the chain. A farm holds GACP; a manufacturer holds GMP. When importers ask for “EU-GACP flower”, they mean cultivation-stage certified material that their licensed processors then handle under GMP.

GACP at Solar Farm Thailand

Solar Farm Thailand is Thai GACP certified by MOPH/DTAM, is commissioning an in-house HPLC lab, and ships a third-party COA for every batch. Licensed buyers can visit on a window-viewing farm tour by appointment. See the GACP supplier overview, our page on cannabis export for EU importers, or about Solar Farm Thailand.

What a GACP audit actually inspects

An audit tests, in order, that a written procedure exists for each step, that staff follow it on the floor, and that the records prove both. The inspector works from the SOP index through propagation, nutrient dosing, pest management, harvest, drying, curing, packaging and storage. A step done from memory rather than a controlled document is a finding.

Traceability is tested backwards: the auditor picks a finished lot and asks for its mother plant, room, inputs, harvest date, drying room and the third-party COA carrying the same lot number. Hygiene is inspected as a system, from personnel entry rules to cleaning schedules, water checks, pest monitoring and waste handling. Training is checked per person, with a signed record for each procedure a grower performs. Calibration certificates, environmental logs and a deviation log close the loop.

Keeping GACP certification current, and what to ask a farm to show

A certificate names an issuing authority or certification body, a site, a scope of activities and a validity period. Renewal means another audit; between audits the farm must keep the system alive: versioned SOPs under document control, change control when a room or process is altered, internal audits, deviations closed with corrective actions, and ongoing training. Gaps in these logs are the first sign that a certificate is decorative.

For due diligence, ask any farm for the following and check that every document names the same site and lot:

• The certificate, with issuing body, site address, scope and validity dates.
• A complete SOP for a step that matters to you, such as drying.
• A full batch record for a shipped lot, matched by lot number to its COA.
• Training records and calibration certificates for equipment used on that lot.

Solar Farm Thailand runs on the same elements: GACP-aligned SOPs, staff training records, calibrated equipment with traceable certificates, and lot documentation from propagation to dispatch. Certificate copies, export documentation and the per-batch COA are provided to licensed buyers so QA review can be completed before ordering.

Frequently asked questions

What does GACP stand for?
Good Agricultural and Collection Practices – the WHO-derived quality standard for cultivating and collecting medicinal plants, including cannabis.

Who issues GACP certification in Thailand?
Thai GACP is issued under the Ministry of Public Health (DTAM).

What is the difference between GACP and EU-GACP?
Both follow the same WHO-derived principles. Thai GACP is issued by the Thai Ministry of Public Health; EU-GACP is audited by independent certification bodies and is the standard licensed importers in the EU look for.

How do I verify a farm’s GACP status?
Ask for certificate copies and a recent third-party batch COA – reputable farms share both.