The Dutch horticulture industry is very big business for small Holland. The USA meanwhile has some of the world's strictest phytosanitary regulations for importing flowers and plants. The Netherlands Plant Protection Service (NPPS) is the Dutch agency in the middle, charged with the challenging task of helping to ensure American and world importers that Dutch horticultural exports are free of harmful diseases. "Finding the right balance between the protection-side and the commercial-side, between safety and economics, that's an important part of our job," says Jeroen Kavelaars, an NPPS agricultural engineer. 

Sustainable horticulture 
The NPPS, which is part of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality, has a staff of some 350 people. "Our work involves preventing the introduction and spread of pests in plants and plant products, and promoting appropriate measures for their control," Kavelaars says. "By doing this, we contribute to a sustainable horticultural industry of international standing and prevent unnecessary barriers to trade." 

European Union
Preventing disease is one thing, unnecessarily limiting trade another, and that's the fine line the NPPS must tread. This is also established by IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention) and WTO agreements. The Netherlands adheres to EU-wide regulations. "Systems are arranged for the Union as a whole," Kavelaars says. The NPPS must implement new EU directives in the Netherlands, while also working to ensure such directives do not unnecessarily disadvantage the Dutch horticultural sector, which is vital for the national economy. 

Quality products
One of the NPPS's activities is issuing phytosanitary export certificates to Dutch/EU exporters. "With these certificates, the NPPS states that a consignment meets the requirements that the country of destination puts on imports," Kavelaars says. This guarantee helps both foreign importers and Dutch exporters. Kavelaars: "If the country of destination knows for certain that when you import from the Netherlands, you're getting quality products free from any harmful organisms, everyone involved benefits." 

Good relationships
The USA has strict import requirements and is a difficult country to export horticulture products to. "Our service however, works closely with our US colleagues," Kavelaars says. "We're always striving to find the right level of security that can be provided by our traders and growers." For both the importing and exporting countries involved, the aim is to provide security, without unduly impeding trade. "Trade wars are in no country's interest," Kavelaars says. "The Dutch and Americans have always had a good working relationship."

Special programs
The NPPS has special monitoring programs for Dutch growers and breeders that ensure their products meet US import requirements. "Such programs involve extra checks and inspections of propagation material," Kavelaars says. The NPPS knows the import requirements for each country; therefore, Dutch growers in the NPPS monitoring program know that the US will ultimately accept their products for import. "It's a question of keeping an overview of sanitary status of both the sector and the individual growers in the program," Kavelaars says.  

Protection requirements 
The NPPS has policing powers for situations in which products fail to meet EU plant protection requirements. "There's a list of quarantine organisms, and if we find them in a Dutch nursery, they have to be eradicated," Kavelaars says. "In extreme cases, a business could be closed down temporarily." This is done for the benefit of the sector involved. "Growers also agree that it's a harmful organism that needs to be eradicated for the betterment of their businesses," Kavelaars says. 

Business concerns
In NPPS performs its governmental protective duties, but also remains sensitive to Dutch business concerns. Consequently, the NPPS enjoys cooperative rather than adversarial relationships with Dutch companies. "We're constantly talking with trade organizations and growers, without compromising the guarantees we give to import and export," Kavelaars says. "We know what global business challenges they're facing. We understand that time is everything in horticulture. We know what the obligations are, and therefore we try to get our work done as quickly as possible."