The quality mark for coffeeshops
The BCD standard makes a coffeeshop's entire operations verifiable: integrity, administration, compliance, staff, prevention and safety. Below you'll find the standard, all assessment criteria and the application form.
The BCD standard
Self-regulation is only worth something if an outsider can check whether you actually comply with your own norms. That is the difference between a code of conduct and a quality mark. The BCD standard is therefore a process certificate: not a single snapshot, but a recorded way of working that is periodically assessed by an independent party.
The standard grew out of the quality assurance system the sector has developed since 2007 and has been elaborated into a sector standard. The certificate is managed by Stichting CVIP and the audit is carried out by an external certification body — not by the holder of the quality mark itself. The BCD is the initiator and, as a trade association, has structurally contributed to the standard.
For a municipality, mayor or bank, that provides a verifiable point of reference instead of an assumption. For the operator, it delivers an internal system that holds up during a Bibob procedure, a bank's customer due diligence or an enforcement conversation.
Assessment criteria
The audit assesses eight domains. For each domain the coffeeshop must be able to show that policy is recorded, implemented and periodically evaluated.
1. Business operations and organisation
- A quality manual recording processes, responsibilities and work instructions
- Up-to-date registration, articles of association and control structure are traceable
- A standing procedure for recording and evaluating incidents
2. Integrity and Bibob
- Directors and managers have been screened for antecedents
- Financing flows and control are substantiated in writing
- The file is organised so that a Bibob questionnaire can be completed without new reconstruction
3. Administration and cash flows
- A complete, reconciled cash and stock administration
- Traceable payments and a recorded cash policy
- Documentation that can serve as a mitigating measure in banks' customer due diligence (Wwft)
4. Compliance with the tolerance conditions
- Demonstrable compliance with the AHOJG criteria from the Opium Act Directive
- Age verification is set out in procedure and checked by spot audits
- Trading stock and sales per transaction stay within the tolerance conditions
5. Staff and professional competence
- Staff have completed the Cannabis Seller Professional Competence course or an equivalent training
- An up-to-date personnel file with job profiles and instructions
- Periodic refresher training on prevention, aggression and age checks
6. Product, hygiene and information
- Product information available to the consumer (type, strength indication, usage advice)
- Hygiene and storage procedures for products and work areas
- A recorded procedure for handling product complaints
7. Prevention and health
- Prevention policy aimed at young adults and vulnerable users
- Referral arrangements with local addiction care or the public health service (GGD)
- Visible, up-to-date information displayed in the shop
8. Safety and surroundings
- A safety plan for robberies, aggression and emergencies
- Agreements on nuisance, noise and traffic in the immediate surroundings
- A fixed point of contact for the municipality, police and local residents
Who assesses a coffeeshop?
A coffeeshop is assessed by several bodies. The BCD audit does not replace that oversight: the audit demonstrates in advance that operations are in order on the points these bodies check.
Municipality (mayor, supervisors and enforcement officers)
SupervisionOperating licence, tolerance declaration, compliance with the tolerance conditions and the municipal enforcement and Damocles policy.
vng.nlNational Bibob Office (Justis)
IntegrityAdvises municipalities on integrity risks in licence applications, takeovers and financing structures.
justis.nlPolice
SupervisionChecks on public order, trading stock and nuisance; provides information to the mayor.
politie.nlTax and Customs Administration
SupervisionChecks on administration, cash flows, revenue reporting and payroll taxes.
belastingdienst.nlNetherlands Labour Authority
SupervisionWorking conditions, working hours and fair work for the coffeeshop's staff.
nlarbeidsinspectie.nlSafety region and fire service
SupervisionFire safety, escape routes and the maximum number of people allowed on the premises.
brandweer.nlTrimbos Institute
KnowledgeNational knowledge institute for prevention and health; a source for the prevention domain of the standard.
trimbos.nlBond van Cannabis Detaillisten — BCD audit
Sector auditVoluntary assessment against the eight domains of the BCD standard, with a findings report, remediation period and periodic reassessment.
coffeeshopbond.nlFor municipalities and the VNG
Municipalities that want control over the coffeeshop market gain more from norm-setting than from capping. The quality mark delivers the evidence that municipal oversight requires. These pages explain that reasoning:
- For municipalities: scarce licences and the VNG guidance — how the VNG guidance Scarce licences (October 2024) relates to coffeeshop policy.
- Scarce licences dossier — argument overview, case-law and our approach towards municipalities.
- Bibob dossier — integrity screening and what an audit adds to it.
- VNG — Association of Netherlands Municipalities — the umbrella body that publishes guidance for municipal policy.
- Rijksoverheid — tolerance policy on soft drugs and coffeeshops — the national tolerance conditions (AHOJGI) that domain 4 assesses.
Application form
Complete this form to register your coffeeshop for assessment. We will contact you for the intake; the independent audit against the criteria above will follow.