Plant passport
About the inspection
In 1993, the plant passport system was introduced within the European Union. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) issues plant passports in the Netherlands. Naktuinbouw performs the inspections and is authorised by the NVWA to issue plant passports. Our inspector only needs to visit you once (combined visit) for the phytosanitary inspection (plant passport inspection) and the quality inspection. If your propagating material is completely free (zero-norm) from quarantine organisms, Naktuinbouw will issue a plant passport.
Under certain conditions, Naktuinbouw can authorise companies to issue and use “daily” plant passports. This authorisation is established in an agreement. The NVWA manages the Register of plants subject to plant passport requirements.
You may attach a coloured label to your plants with product information and a photo in colour. This type of label can also act as a plant passport if that is a requirement according to the European Union. Coloured labels are mainly used for fruit crops. These labels must comply with the requirements for a plant passport. We must therefore authorise the use of the labels and other forms of the plant passport. You can contact our inspectors to check if a plant passport has been authorised.
Regulations
European trade directives apply within each sector in horticulture. The terms of these directives must be taken into account. Directive 98/56/EG is the basis for floriculture (ornamental plants).
The policy regulations and inspection regulations for the Netherlands are embedded in the Seeds and Planting Materials Act. This legislation is contained in the Inspection Regulations Naktuinbouw Your propagating material must be accompanied by a delivery note/suppliers document according to European legislation. The information stated on these documents must comply with the provisions. Propagating material rejected by our inspections can not be traded.
Procedure
Companies may issue plant passports themselves and release plants that comply with phytosanitary standards for trade with EU territory. This is only permitted after the agreement ‘Bedrijfsautorisatie Plantenpaspoortafgifte en Fytosanitair vrijgeven voor het grondgebied van de Europese Gemeenschap’ has been signed. .
The signed agreement should be sent to us. It comes into force once it has been signed by Naktuinbouw and returned. This means that your company is authorised to issue its own plant passports.
It is also possible to use uniform templates for supplier's documents and plant passports as issued by Naktuinbouw. During the standard inspections, the Naktuinbouw inspectors monitor the correct use of (authorised) documents.
Fee
The Naktuinbouw board establishes our inspection fees each year. The fees are subsequently approved by the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The costs are charged based on the cost-maker cost-bearer principle. The fees for inspection can be found here Rates/fees.
Application
A delivery note or coloured label can be amended to create a plant passport. All these documents must be authorised by Naktuinbouw before they are used. Please contact the Administration Team at the Inspections department (see details below). Please also contact us to register for a plant passport or make a passport yourself.