The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) announced today new proposed amendments to the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. As detailed in today’s Illinois Register and Flinn Report, the rulemaking would add a new IDOA-designated cannabis plant monitoring system, within which all cannabis business establishments must create and maintain accounts that track all movements of cannabis or cannabis-derived products.

The new rulemaking would extend IDOA licensing and regulation (that originally applied only to cultivation centers) to craft growers, infusers, processors (facilities that extract chemicals or compounds from cannabis to produce cannabis concentrate), and community college cannabis vocational pilot programs.

The new IDOA-designated cannabis plant monitoring system additions and amendments would include:

1. All cannabis and cannabis products in IDOA-licensed cannabis business establishments must be accounted for in the system at all times and kept in enclosed, locked facilities.
2. Establishments must only use plant tags distributed by IDOA or its designee and assigned in the monitoring system to that establishment.
3. Tags cannot be transferred to another licensee or entity.
4. Immature plants of a single strain or cultivar may be grouped together under a single plant batch tag; once plants are at least 16 inches tall, each plant will receive its own tag.
5. Harvested plants will be assigned a unique harvest batch name and a package tag after the drying and curing process is complete.
6. All cultivation and production activities, including receipt or rejection of transferred cannabis or cannabis product, planting, harvest, movement of cannabis or cannabis product, extraction, distillation, infusion, destruction or waste of product, and sale of product must be recorded in the monitoring system.
7. When cannabis or cannabis product is ready to be transferred to another establishment, a manifest must be created in the monitoring system.
8. If an establishment loses access to the system, it must record all activities by another means and enter them into the system once access is regained.
9. Cannabis business establishments shall not accept or use any cannabis, hemp, or cannabis- or hemp-derived input that is not from a licensed Illinois cannabis business establishment.
10. Before accepting any input, a business licensed must request IDOA permission through the cannabis plant monitoring system and must receive the input during the IDOA-approved timeframe. Cultivation centers and craft growers also must have approval from the IDOA to obtain seeds, clones or new genetics from an entity other than a cannabis business establishment.
11. The rulemaking also reduces the minimum storage period for security camera footage from 180 to 90 days.

In addition, the new rulemaking included a reduction or pause on various application fees for approval of major modifications to a cannabis business establishment:

1. Cultivation centers, $4,000 (currently, $5,000 due at application and $3,000 upon approval)
2. Craft growers, $2,000 (currently, $2,500 at application and $1,500 upon approval)
3. Infusers, $1,000 (currently, $1,250 at application and $750 upon approval).

For less extensive alterations:

1. Application fees are reduced to $500 (currently $1,000) for cultivation centers, $250 (currently $500) for craft growers, and $125 (currently $250) for infusers.
2. The current $1,000 fee for changing the principal officer of any licensed cannabis business or organization is being eliminated.
3. The registration fee is reduced from $100 to $25.
4. Annual renewal fees for craft growers and infusers will be paused for 2 years after this rulemaking takes effect.

Questions/requests for copies/comments through 11/17/25: Sam McGee, DOA, State Fairgrounds, P. O. Box 19281, Springfield IL 62794- 9281, 217-558-3741, Samuel.McGee@illinois.gov.

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