SICPA Providing Ionization Labs with CERTUS for Chain-Of-Custody Blockchain Authentication

SICPA announced a new partnership with Ionization Labs, developers of decentralized cannabis and hemp potency testing solution called Cann-ID. 

The collaboration between SICPA and Ionization Labs provides the hemp and cannabis industry with a trusted way to make secure transactions between cultivators, processors, retailers and enabling interstate, intrastate and international commerce, according to SICPA. 

Leveraging the Cann-ID chemical data platform with SICPA’s CERTUS blockchain-based authentication facilitates interagency data sharing between the USDA, FDA, US Department of Treasury, Department of Homeland Security and state regulatory agencies who have the tedious task of opening up logistics, banking, insurance, tax revenue, compliance tracking and other resources required for the success of the world’s fastest-growing specialty crop, SICPA said.

This collaboration between SICPA and Ionization offers a blockchain-based authentication testing infrastructure using SICPA’s proven CERTUS technology and Ionization’s Cann-ID potency testing platform. 

The resulting benefit is the issuance of a trusted, tamper-proof and universally verifiable certificate of analysis (COA) for hemp, cannabis and other agricultural products, SICPA said. 

CERTUS records and protects key data in a secure QR code digitally signed and protected by proven KSI blockchain technology; this enables universal verification by any stakeholder within the supply chain, according to SICPA. 

Ionization Lab’s Cann-ID solution is a cloud-based chemical data platform built on analytical hardware developed by Agilent Technologies, SICPA said. 

Ionization Labs’ clients span the entire seed-to-sale ecosystem, including certified testing labs throughout the US and select foreign markets.

“Hemp is still a new and evolving market. Growers, buyers, and regulators are plagued with gaps in security and an inability to quickly and immediately confirm biomass meets THC concentration allowances,” said Alex Spelman, VP at SICPA. “By incorporating CERTUS into the Cann-ID platform, Ionization Labs and Agilent Technologies provide users with a much-needed and trusted solution to secure and validate essential testing and potency credentials. These certificates of analysis are a critical underpinning of SICPA’s traceability approach and are vital to have in place for any future track-and-trace functionality.”

“Protecting the integrity of chemical data relating to testing is of paramount importance, especially for human consumables,” Founder and President of Ionization Labs Cree Crawford added. “The opportunity to partner with SICPA brings a level of trust and transparency, using superior data security that will add to our solution value proposition for the rapidly growing cannabis and hemp industries. The international footprint of SICPA, combined with the power of Cann-ID, will allow our collaboration to support global markets that have an expected combined growth from $15.93 billion in 2019 to $112.6 billion by 2027.”