4.1 Intended Use-This practice is intended for use by parties who either develop, plan, and conduct internal or external audits, or are interested in the audit process since they are the subject of compliance audits or they mandate such audits to occur.

4.2 Terms and Concepts-The definition of terms in Section 3 and the perspectives on scale, objectives, and types of audits in Annex A3 provide concepts that help clarify the different roles involved in an audit, the various elements of an audit, and how this standard applies to different situations. This standard is written in terms that accommodate audits for different objectives and sizes.

4.3 Application-Compliance audits are used to identify gaps between some criteria and the actual operational conditions. Knowledge of compliance gaps are used to assess various risks, guide corrective action and improvement efforts, prevent fines and penalties, or provide stakeholders an objective evaluation of an operation and its potential safety, financial, or other risks. A user of this practice should understand and adapt the audit concepts, process, and responsibilities in this practice to their specific organizational structure and situation.

4.4 Audit Scale-The scale of an audit can range from an internal audit of a small single operation with fewer than ten employees to an external audit of a large corporation with facilities at multiple international locations. In either case, large or small, the principles in this practice shall be followed to produce objective and credible results.

4.5 Audit Criteria-As the cannabis industry develops globally and continues to gain acceptance, both new and previously established standards, regulations, policies, and best practices are being developed, adopted, evolving, and applied to this industry. Due to this evolving nature, diligent attention is needed by auditing bodies to maintain up-to-date audit criteria and protocols.