Petra de Kam
Deputy Secretary-General
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
It gave me great pleasure to be asked to contribute to the Annual Report of Naktuinbouw. My name is Petra de Kam. I have been the Deputy Secretary-General since November 2023. My working relationship with Naktuinbouw is relatively new, but I do know that thanks to the input of many parties, the Multi-year Agreement was concluded between Naktuinbouw, NAK, KCB and BKD. The festive occasion of the signing was held at Naktuinbouw. After the many years of committed efforts, this marked a milestone!
At the end of 2023, the evaluation of the crop inspection services was finalised and published. The results show that Naktuinbouw is performing well, which gives me great satisfaction. There are also lessons to be learned that offer opportunities for development. We will work together on these points in 2024.
In 2024, I look forward to getting to know Naktuinbouw better and to intensifying our cooperation and seeing the field of work you are all so proud of!
Susanne Sütterlin
MT Member, Plant Supply Chains and Food Quality Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
We managed to accomplish a lot together in 2023 and can look back on those achievements with pleasure. First of all, the Commission's legislative proposals on Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) and Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) were published last summer, and we entered negotiations in Brussels in good cooperation with Naktuinbouw. Naktuinbouw supports LNV with its high level of expertise and helps to bring together all the stakeholders from the business community. I would like to express my appreciation for their efforts.
Naktuinbouw also received a good assessment in the evaluation conducted every five years. This demonstrates that Naktuinbouw performs its tasks effectively and efficiently. We will work actively on the improvement points in 2024.
The highlight of 2023 was the signing of the Multi-year Agreement (MYA). Naktuinbouw hosted the signing. The implementation of the MYA forms the framework of the phytosanitary system. In 2024, the final agreements will be implemented and the phytosanitary system will be consolidated further. I am also keenly anticipating continued good cooperation on the European PRM and FRM documents in 2024.
Corné van Alphen
Director NPPO
Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority
The Netherlands is one of the world's leading players in the trade and production of plant products. A robust phytosanitary system is therefore vital to maintain food security, the biodiversity of our native plants and a thriving green sector.
For more than 80 years, Naktuinbouw, and its predecessors, has performed outstanding work to ensure and guarantee the quality of plants in the Netherlands. Since the National Plant Protection Organisation of the Netherlands merged to form the NVWA, Naktuinbouw, together with the other phytosanitary inspection services, has performed phytosanitary inspections and certification tasks under the terms of the Plantkeur Covenant. However, in recent years there have been many changes in terms of phytosanitary legislation. For this reason, we have made joint concerted efforts behind the scenes to review the Multi-year Agreement between LNV, the NVWA and the four phytosanitary inspection authorities. The festive signing took place in September 2023 and signalled an important milestone in our (renewed) cooperation.
At the end of 2023, NVWA established its vision of supervision of the public interest of plant health. One of the ambitions stated in this vision is to intensify cooperation with the inspection services by sharing expertise mutually and exchanging data to safeguard plant health. Further implementation of the cooperation will take place in 2024. The ratification of the new MYA means it is our task, as partners in the phytosanitary system, to consolidate our system further and to protect plant health throughout the entire plant product supply chain and in public green spaces. I look forward to developing this together next year.