CBD laboratory: check an accreditation in 5 steps

The 2017 version of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard sets out the competence and operating requirements that testing laboratories must meet. The number on its own designates no laboratory. Accreditation is what matters: a certificate, issued by a third party, recognising that a laboratory is competent for defined activities. Cofrac contrasts this with an ISO 9001 certification, which covers the management system and does not by itself demonstrate technical competence for a given analysis.

In France, the 2008 economic modernisation law designated Cofrac as the national accreditation body. In line with EU Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, it is the only body allowed to grant accreditations. A laboratory abroad gets its accreditation from its own country's national body. Cofrac certificates mention that Cofrac has signed the multilateral agreement of the European co-operation for Accreditation, under which signatories recognise one another.

Work from the complete report supplied by the seller. A screenshot, or a badge on a product page, will not do. Write down three things: the laboratory's legal name, the address of the site where the test was run, and the accreditation number it claims. The displayed name can belong to a brand or a group; you need the legal entity and the site.

Keep the accreditation number apart from the report reference, the sample code and the batch number, and note each one on its own line. Then pin down what you want to verify: the cannabinoid assay of an oil, pesticide testing on a flower, or heavy metals in a resin. The word "CBD" on its own is too vague to read a scope against.

The Cofrac directory has a quick search and an advanced search by sector. Its FAQ says the quick search takes the name, the accreditation number, the programme number or the SIREN company number. Use the most precise identifier you hold.

In the Laboratories section, certificate numbers start with 1, then an identifier, then a revision number: 1-5810 rev. 14, for example. Each revision cancels and replaces the one before, so an old copy from a seller may show a scope that has since changed. When several sites are listed, open the one at the address printed on the report. A name that looks almost the same does not settle it.

The certificate is a single page giving the organisation, its SIREN number, the site address and the broad fields covered. It says it is valid only with its technical annex and that the accreditation may be suspended, modified or withdrawn at any time. Two dates close the annex: start and expiry. A report issued after expiry falls outside the accreditation. A report issued before the start date came under the previous revision, so ask for that one.

Cofrac keeps a public list of suspended, withdrawn or terminated accreditations. It shows full suspensions, and full withdrawals or terminations from the last 5 years, or from the last 2 years when the termination followed a transfer of accreditation. Under its GEN PROC 03 procedure, applicable since 15 October 2022, a suspension or withdrawal may apply to the whole scope or to part of it. When you see the word "suspension", find out which activities and which dates it concerns.

Three dates must stay distinct: when the test was run, when the report was issued and when you checked. For an old report, ask for the annex that applied on the test date.

The technical annex is divided by technical unit, then by field, and each field into lines of four columns:

• The object is the material analysed, for example hemp plant matrices or an oil.
• The characteristic measured or sought is what gets quantified, molecule by molecule.
• The principle of the method gives the preparation and the technique, for instance cold extraction then liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD).
• The method reference is either a published standard or the laboratory's own reference for a method it has validated.

Each block also has a flexibility statement, as defined in Cofrac's LAB REF 08 document, applicable since 15 December 2024. The statement sets how much freedom the laboratory has in its choice of methods.

With a fixed scope or FLEX1, the annex alone tells you whether a test is covered. With FLEX2 or FLEX3 it gives only the field, and the detailed list of services is on the Cofrac website or available from the laboratory. When a heading on the report does not appear in the scope, ask the laboratory which line covers it. Different wording does not prove the test is uncovered, and matching wording does not prove it is covered.

The two certificates below were opened in full on the Cofrac website on 23 September 2026. They illustrate the method and do not rank the laboratories.

Each certificate teaches something. LABEXAN is accredited for six cannabinoids in hemp flowers and herbal teas and for four in oil. A CBG or CBC level that this laboratory measures in an oil therefore falls outside that line. Its scope also has no line for terpenes, heavy metals or pesticide residues on hemp.

ALBHADES PROVENCE holds accreditation to the same standard, with a far longer scope across three technical units, and none of its lines concerns cannabinoids. A badge reading "ISO 17025 accredited laboratory" based on this certificate would be accurate. For a CBD assay, it would tell you nothing.

The final check concerns the report. Cofrac's GEN REF 11 document, revision 11, applicable since 1 February 2026, states that the accreditation covers only reports bearing the accreditation mark or a written reference to the accreditation. A missing logo does not settle the matter, so look for a reference sentence as well.

Under the same document, a laboratory issues reports within its scope under accreditation unless it has a documented agreement with the client. Where such an agreement exists, the laboratory must inform the client that those reports carry no presumption of meeting the standard and fall outside international recognition agreements. One report can contain both covered and uncovered results, so read the notes attached to the results.

If a point is still unclear, write to the laboratory with the full report attached: "For this report and this sample, which scope line covers the analysis of [molecule] in [material]? Please state the site, the method and the status of this service on the test date." You can then check its technical answer against the published documents.

Accreditation attests that a laboratory is competent for named tests. Whether the analysed product complies is something you read in the results. Whether the sample matches the pouch on sale is something you check through the batch number. The legal framework still applies on top: in France, a hemp-based product must not exceed 0.30% Δ⁹-THC, as our article on the legal THC level explains.

A proficiency testing programme is a separate thing again. The US NIST describes its CannaQAP programme as an interlaboratory study that gives no pass or fail grade and publishes its results anonymously. Taking part is good practice and confers no accreditation.

For the results themselves, our guide to the certificate of analysis explains each line. Two analyses that a cannabinoid scope leaves out have their own articles: pesticide residues and heavy metals. Measurement methods are described on the laboratory page, and common questions are collected in the FAQ.