Recently, negative news has been published in the press with regard to the presence of toxic substances on garden and potted plants. This is caused by the report "Toxic plants in the garden centre" which has been published by Greenpeace. According to this report products in garden centres would contain a lot of unpermitted toxic substances as well as too much permitted substances. The report also links to the problem of the "extinction of bees" that has been an issue for some years now. The report creates the impression that the extinction of the bees could also be partly caused by the toxic substances that were found on the flowers and plants. However, scientists have serious doubts about this.
Meanwhile the garden centre industry has reacted upon the Greenpeace report in the media and has announced that they only buy products from MPS certified growers and that, as a consequence, they expect that the products are being inspected.
Reaction MPS:
Th. De Groot (CEO MPS): "Since the start of MPS we are aiming to create awareness in the horticulture sector with regard to sustainability, e.g. by reducing the usage of crop protection agents. Over the past 20 years this strategy has proven to be successful and we have achieved many results. This doesn’t mean that our goal has been achieved completely, there is still a lot to do but the horticulture sector is doing its utmost to operate as sustainable as possible. The number of certified companies is still growing and more and more companies are implementing sustainability into their company policy. In the framework of reliability MPS has taken the lead to intensify the inspections (more sampling) and to inspect on the presence of permitted agents.
However, the garden centre industry and the growers could take action themselves as well. It is the responsibility of the grower to comply with the law and the requirements stipulated by MPS. However, the admission requirements of crop protection agents vary per country. As a result it is possible that an unpermitted agent in the Netherlands could be found on an MPS certified product coming from another country. Within the MPS system the legislation of the relevant country is of importance. Besides that our Black List with unpermitted agents above the law is handled as well as the requirements of the retailers.
It goes without saying that buyers (e.g. retail, garden centres) can make additional demands with regard to the products they buy, for example by requiring that specified agents may not be found on the products bought by them. There lies the power and strength of the market forces. As soon as buying parties take their responsibility and set up this kind of criteria, the grower will follow and a self-cleaning ability will take place. In this framework MPS will guide the grower and the horticulture sector in order to work towards a sustainable, corporate social responsible producing sector. That is our mission and our right to exist.
Th. de Groot, CEO MPS
Source: MPS
