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Understanding How Digital BioTrack Tags Work in New York

Emily Wanless
  • Updated

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

June 13th Tag Updates


Beginning on June 13th all newly created Package and Plant tags in Canix for New York facilities will be required to be 16 digits and numeric.

  • Characters will no longer be allowed, for example CX00000000012
  • Canix will also add a unique 4 digit ID at the start of each tag. The remaining 12 digits can be populated with any numeric values.

Why are these changes being put in place?

These changes will reduce the need to re-label inventory physically after migration.

  • BioTrack requires 16 digit numeric tags that are unique across the state, any tags sent in the migration that are not aligned with this format will be issued a new ID. Once this new ID is issued a physical label / barcode must be added to the Plant/Package.

What about all my tags that have already been created and do not match this format?

Any tags that are not Transferred/Harvested/Destroyed before the migration and do not match the 16 digit format required by BioTrack will require a new label.

  • BioTrack will issue a new ID for the Plant/Package.
    • This will be displayed as the "Tag" in Canix post migration
  • Canix will store the previously assigned tag in a column called "Previous Package/Plant Tag".
  • A report will be provided that shows all Plants/Packages where the new BioTrack Tag does not equal the Previous Canix Tag. This report will show you which inventories need to be retagged.
    • Before all inventories are retagged, you will be able to scan, search and filter on the "Previous Package/Plant Tag" fields to continue operations as normal.

 

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.

image (68).png

BioTrack Process

In BioTrack, you will purchase a Digital Tag. A digital tag will have 16 numeric 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

  1. Purchase your digital tags in BioTrack
  2. As you are creating inventory in Canix, put a digital tag on each piece of inventory
  3. 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

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