The NTS allows hemp and cannabis growers to verify that the products they order from seed producers are both certified and authentic
Image: The NTS is expected to effectively control illegal Cannabis product diversions. Photo: courtesy of 7raysmarketing from Pixabay.
US-based Tag-it Tech and TruTag, a custom product authentication and brand protection solutions provider, have jointly developed the Natural Tracking System (NTS), an “on product” tracking system designed for the authentication of product origin and ownership.
The new NTS allows hemp and cannabis growers to verify that the products they order from seed producers are both certified and authentic, and effectively control illegal Cannabis product diversions.
DEA special agent retired Karl Colder said: “Illegal products are a serious and growing problem facing the hemp, and cannabis industry.
“Legitimate licensed companies are suffering millions of dollars in losses and State sales tax revenues are impacted negatively as well.”
The coded micro-taggants applied to seeds can be read using cell phones
The seed tracking system applies invisible organic coded micro-taggants mixed with a coating directly to the surface of seeds.
Users can easily read the coded micro-taggants applied to seeds using current model cell phones, allowing them to verify the authentic origin of seeds in seconds. The NTS eliminates the requirement of sample preparation or lab analyses.
Although barcodes and RFIDs on product packaging effectively track inventory and sales, they fail to prevent many illegal activities as they can be copied, altered, disabled or separated from hemp and cannabis products, Tag-it Tech said.
Built on ledger-based relational data platform Google Trillian, the NTS is designed to provide extreme functionality and allows any amount of data to be captured and relayed to product exporters and importers, as well as law enforcement agencies.
Additionally, the NTS can be securely integrated on to customer ERPs, state track & trace systems, and provincial, federal and international databases.
Tag-it Tech CEO Paul Schutt said: “Our NTS system is next-generation technology and the industry needs it now.
“Micro-taggants are impossible to remove from the products they track and using physical and digital anchors is revolutionary. Our technology is invisible to the naked eye, can’t be copied, and anyone can read it with a cell phone in seconds, making it superior in every way to all other tracking systems.”
Last year, TruTag Technologies has collaborated with PwC Australia on food trust initiative.