The state Department of Consumer Protection apologized Friday for conducting what appeared to be a retaliatory inspection at a cannabis cultivator Thursday, a day after the company’s chief executive offered testimony at the General Assembly criticizing DCP testing protocols on recreational marijuana.

Bryan Cafferelli, the commissioner of consumer protection, offered public and private apologies and made no attempt to suggest there was a legitimate reason for what he called an “unannounced compliance check” that “took place without knowledge or approval of the commissioner.”

“This should not have happened,” Cafferelli said in a written response to an inquiry by The Connecticut Mirror. “Everyone should feel safe and comfortable providing testimony at a public hearing without fear of retribution or retaliation, whether they are a member of the general public or a licensee.”

“We sincerely apologize to the individuals and business involved,” he said. “We will work to rebuild the trust of the committee, our credential holders and the public.”

Cafferelli and a spokesperson for the department, Kaitlyn Krasselt, declined to say who ordered or conducted the inspection, calling it a personnel matter that is being handled internally. She confirmed that the inspection found no violation of state regulations or law.

The target of the inquiry was Rino Ferrarese, the president of Affinity Grow and a pioneer in the production and sale of cannabis in Connecticut, first with medical marijuana and then with the greatly expanded industry brought by the legalization of adult recreational weed in 2021.

Ferrarese had testified before the legislature’s General Law Committee in favor of a bill that would create a panel to examine testing rules that Ferrarese says leads to “inconsistent testing, inflated costs and regulatory inefficiencies, all without a clear benefit to public health.”

The testing for medical cannabis focused on batch testing before packaging, not the “final form” testing required for the adult recreational market, which involves testing of a sampling of packaged cannabis flower, rolled joints or other products as prepared for sale.