when a ‘new form is created’, it should be a production batch.

the production batch is the package that should be used to sample from for compliance lab testing

manufactured products (trim > crude, crude > distillate, distillate > vape pens or edibles, etc. )

mixing strains to make a mixed flower packaged product (i.e. eighth made from 2 or more strains)

assortment packages where 2 or more SKUs are bundled together

if the production batch cannot lead back to all the COA testing, this is a major issue and could be seen as trying to bypass testing

if there was a recall, METRC is the way to track every package created from that production batch. Say you have 20 child packages created for retailers sourced from the original COA tested tag (which is linked to final form production batch). The production batch will be linked to the original final form package tag that hold the COA testing. Because the retailers receive a different tag than the original COA tested tag they would have no way to trace back to original test without the final form production batch.

the licensee could get in trouble; not sure exactly what kind of trouble

when doing COA tests (for those on Metrc), testing labs will need to know both the production batch as well as the package tag. Since operators have to create a lab test sample and transfer it to the lab, the lab would know the parent package it came from as that’s the Metrc package tag is where the testing results will be stored for that specific production batch

the production batch ID will be added to the COA test results by the lab and sent back to the distributor through email, not Metrc. This will already be recorded in Metrc as well because the lab has to enter the results into the tag that was sent to them, which is then sent back to the parent package of that package back at the distribution level.

the distributor is then responsible for printing all of the required labels, once they verify production batch vs. results. vs package tags

then the sales reps can send the lab test results to the customer, along with the sales order, and ideally show the production batch ID on the invoice to know what is being sold is what corresponds to the test results. If they can’t do that, then at-least what is shipped should have the production batch ID on the label to show that a given item corresponds to what is being transferred in the manifest.
​NOTE: Metrc Manifests DO show the production batch ID for each package being transferred, if one is there.

once a package passes the test, its status in Metrc will say TestPassed , and all child packages made from the parent package will carry the status TestPassed. For example, say you test a package of 500 gelato vape carts. Once you submit it for testing, its status changes from NotSubmitted  to SubmittedForTesting . If they pass testing, then when you create child packages of say ten packages with 50 vape carts, they will also say TestPassed.

another thing to note is that operators can’t test packages that are beyond the limit placed by regulations. Say a cultivator creates a 75 lb production-batch-package out of a harvest batch (hence assigning a Production Batch ID) and transfers it to the distributor. The distributor would have to split it up into 2 packages as there is a 50lb limit per package when testing. Thus you will have to have split that into 2 packages using an assembly in Distru, each package being 50 lbs or less, and then create test sample for each. In this case, both packages would carry the same Production Batch ID as inherited from the parent package. Say then you were to sell both packages to the same customer, the customer would need to have both the Production Batch ID AND the Package Tag to truly differentiate which test results corresponds to which package, unless the test results ALSO state the Package Tag which they do in some cases as seen below: