# Labelling requirements

> Labelling requirements are the legal rules on what cannabis packages must and must not show, such as potency, warnings, lot number and dates.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/labelling-requirements.html
- Also written: labeling requirements, cannabis labels, label rules, product labelling, packaging labels
- Glossary category: Legal and regulatory
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Labelling requirements specify what a regulated cannabis package must carry and what it must not. Typical mandatory items: product type, net weight, [THC](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/thc.md) and [CBD](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/cbd.md) (often as total THC and total CBD), lot or batch number, producer licence, packaging date, health warnings and a standard cannabis symbol. Common prohibitions: health claims, appeal to young people, false or misleading statements.

## In practice

Read the label for what it actually states. A packaging date is not a harvest date. Potency is a single lab result, which can be inflated or not representative of the whole lot. Whether [irradiation](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/irradiation.md) must be disclosed varies by place. [Terpene](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/terpene.md) data is often voluntary.

GenetixBay's buyer-beware position: flower labelled above about 35% [total cannabinoids](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/total-cannabinoids.md) is not credible, and most flower labelled mid-20s to 30s really tests lower. See [buyer beware: label claims](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/basics/buyer-beware-label-claims.md).

Rules differ by country, state, province and city, and change often. This is a general definition, not legal advice: check local rules.

## Don't confuse with

- **Child-resistant packaging**: the container standard, separate from the label.
- **COA**: the [lab report](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/coa.md) behind the label figures.

## Related terms

[Child-resistant packaging](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/child-resistant-packaging.md), [Compliance testing](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/compliance-testing.md), [Cannabis irradiation](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/irradiation.md), [Total THC](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/total-thc.md)

## Read more

- [Buyer beware: potency labels, strain names and other claims that don't hold up](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/basics/buyer-beware-label-claims.md)

## Sources

1. Schwabe AL, Johnson V, Harrelson J, McGlaughlin ME. 2023. Uncomfortably high: testing reveals inflated THC potency on retail cannabis labels. PLOS ONE 18(4):e0282396. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282396