News

As of January 1st, 2021, SMK will publish the revised certification scheme On the way to PlanetProof Plant products, which is valid for all of Europe.

The following documents have been published on the website:

• Certification scheme for Plant products
• Certification scheme for Plant products with changes compared to 2020, highlighted (available for Central- and Southern-Europe)
• Explanation of changes compared to 2020 (available for Central- and Southern-Europe)
• Digital checklist 2021
• Quesntions and answers of public consultation

Revision process 2020
This year's review focused on merging the Central Europe and Southern Europe certification schemes into one scheme for all of Europe. Certification based on this scheme is possible in all countries in Europe.

In addition to the merger of the two schemes, a number of bottlenecks have been resolved and the scheme has been updated on a number of points, including the lists of permitted crop protection products.

As part of the review, SMK organized a public written consultation where all interested parties were invited to respond to the draft certification scheme 2021. The Board of Experts finalized the certification scheme on December 3^rd.

Changes
The substantive changes are explained in the document "Explanation of changes". Some important ones are:

• Update of the lists of crop protection products  (Appendix 2b and 2c).
• Various requirements have been adjusted for international applicability, such as the crops to be certified, active substance limits (Annex 1), nitrogen application limits (Annex 5) and water requirements (Chapter 6).
• Expansion of the optional measures for biodiversity (Chapter 3).
• Certification at farm/ business level is permitted provided that the preconditions for assurance/ verifiability are met (Criterion 10.2).
• Independent certification of service providers is made mandatory in certain situations (Criterion 10.19).

Training
SMK will organize training for advisers, cultivation managers, quality managers and others in 2021. For more information, please contact SMK.

More information
SMK Team plant Products: Stefanie de Kool, Els Lindeboom, John Janssen, Jaap Bij de Vaate, Lien Terryn and Minke van Bentum.