Managing cannabis operations in New York requires understanding the state’s digital tagging system. Whether you’re a cultivator, processor, or retailer, tags are essential for tracking inventory in compliance with the OCM seed-to-sale system.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Metrc Tag Process (for Comparison Only)
- BioTrack Process
- How much does each tag cost?
- How Do Tags Work?
- How Canix Works with BioTrack’s Digital Tags
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Further Reading
Introduction
The State of New York has selected BioTrack’s Government (NOT Commercial) Software as a Track and Trace system.
This Track and Trace system is based on “Tags” - or unique identifiers that identify a specific piece of cannabis inventory.
In BioTrack, you DO NOT purchase physical tags, the way that you do in Metrc states.
Instead, you purchase Digital Tags.
Metrc Tag Process (for Comparison Only)
In Metrc states, you will purchase a tag like the below from Metrc.
It will arrive in a package, and you will place that tag on a piece of cannabis inventory.
BioTrack Process
In BioTrack, you will purchase a Digital Tag. A digital tag will have 16 digits.
You will place this Digital tag on ALL forms of cannabis products, including:
- Plants
- Inventory lots (packages)
- QA samples
- Finished goods
They are not physical tags but IDs purchased digitally through a state-approved system. You are responsible for printing out this tag number to associate with your inventory.
How much does each tag cost?
Each tag costs $0.10, and businesses can purchase them in blocks of 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000.
Stand-alone retailers are exempt from purchasing tags because they only manage, not create, inventory.
How Do Tags Work?
Let’s break this into simple examples for clarity:
1. Cultivators
A cultivator planting 100 plants of Sour Diesel needs:
- 100 tags = $10.00.
After harvesting, the 100 plants may result in:
- Dry Flower: 15,000 grams,
- Other Material: 5,000 grams,
- Waste: 5,000 grams.
Only 3 additional tags are needed for these outcomes - 1 for each type of material packaged.
2. Processors
Processors purchase raw materials (e.g. dry flower) and convert them into products like pre-rolls or edibles:
- Creating 955 pre-rolls → 1 tag = $0.10
- 1 QA sample testing 5 pre-rolls → 1 tag = $0.10
- Sublotting (splitting) pre-rolls into 18 cases → 18 tags = $1.80
By managing tags at the “sublot” stage, processors ensure efficient labeling of finished goods.
3. Stand-Alone Retailers
Retailers simply manage inventory with the IDs they received the inventory with. Therefore, no additional tags are required for sublotting inventory between rooms (vaults, overstock, etc.).
How Canix Works with BioTrack’s Digital Tags
- Purchase your digital tags in BioTrack
- As you are creating inventory in Canix, put a digital tag on each piece of inventory
- Dynamically print hundreds of tags in seconds in Canix
In Canix - you can dynamically generate hundreds of labels with no manual entry at all.
Check out the video below to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Are BioTrack’s tags RFID Enabled?
- No. BioTrack does not provide RFID encoding for its tags.
- How much does each tag costs?
- $0.10 per digital tag
- Is there any advantage to buying in bulk?
- Unfortunately, tags costs $0.10 no matter what quantity you purchase them in. However, buying tags in bulk ensures you have enough IDs for production.
- Where do I purchase the tags?
- The website to purchase tags is not currently live
Need more clarity? Contact support here
Further Reading
https://cannabis.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/04/official-tag-guidelines.pdf