Royal FloraHolland wants to be transparent towards the marketplace about how the products we offer have been produced. Certificates confirming sustainable production are an ideal way to achieve this. For this reason, starting 19 December 2019, we will be showing certificate information on the clock even more reliably.
Soon, the procedures for assigning certificates will change and be simplified. This will unburden growers, but also promote displaying certificates on the clock in an up-to-date and reliable fashion.
Automatic Filling Certificate in EAB
A certificate serves as proof of how a product has been produced. As such, it offers growers opportunities in a market that increasingly demands certified products.
Starting 19 December 2019, the procedures for assigning certificates will change and be simplified. From then on, the EAB with the clock supply will be automatically filled with the relevant certificates upon arrival of the lots. We receive the requisite information from the certifying organisations through Floricode. Since Floricode does not yet receive certification information from all of the certifying organisations, growers will for the time being fill in the relevant codes for a small number of certificates themselves.
Reliably Buy Sustainable Product
Consumer demand for reliable and sustainably produced flowers and plants is on the increase. For this reason, sustainability is becoming a more important issue to traders and retailers, too. Our new procedures ensure that the certificate information displayed on the clock is as up to date and reliable as possible. This will aid the efficient purchasing of sustainable flowers and plants. Until now, we only validated and filled in the certificates MPS A/B/C and GlobalG.A.P. Growers themselves were responsible for assigning the other certificates through the EAB. With the new procedure, we are able to validate the status of growers more precisely through the larger number of certificates that can be shown on the clock. As a consequence, suppliers' certificate information is even more up to date and reliable.
Environmental Certification Mandatory by the End of 2021
Royal FloraHolland is phasing in mandatory environmental registration and certification for all growers (members and non-members) who supply flowers and plants to the marketplace. The mandatory environmental certificate will be introduced in three steps. The first step is digital environmental registration for all marketplace suppliers by 31 December 2020. Subsequently, after 31 December 2021, a market-compliant environmental certificate will be mandatory for all suppliers to Royal FloraHolland. The third step will be to ensure that growers meet all FSI sustainability standards set in the floriculture industry. No date has currently been set for this final step.
It has been agreed with the Members' Council that growers who do not yet register digitally and are not yet certified are to be assisted with an onboarding programme. RFH is currently putting this programme together. The new, simplified procedure for displaying environmental certificates on the clock is in line with this agreed approach.
source: Royal FloraHolland