Objectives remain unchanged, enforcement start date postponed by one quarter Currently, 76% of Royal FloraHolland (RFH) turnover is fully certified according to FSI requirements, and this percentage is rising weekly. The number of audit applications is growing, and the special scheme for small-scale growers has already received more than 350 applications. Trading parties, such as the FSI Accelerators Trade, including Dutch Flower Group, FM Group, Van der Plas Group and Royal Lemkes, are increasingly purchasing in accordance with FSI requirements, averaging 82%. The VGB (Association of Wholesalers) supports this movement and is actively encouraging more trading companies to buy certified products.
At the same time, the strong increase in certification requests and the necessary processes for growers present a challenge to become certified on time. In addition, certified supply is not yet always sufficient for fully certified purchasing by the trade. To give growers enough time to complete their certification trajectories within the set timelines, RFH is postponing the enforcement start date by one quarter. The original certification timeline, as previously communicated, remains unchanged.
Certification is important for increasing transparency regarding sustainability. There is growing demand for this from government, retail, media and consumers. The sharp increase in certification requests and the processes involved mean that, despite additional efforts from audit bodies, growers sometimes face challenges in scheduling audits within the set timelines. Certified supply is also not yet high enough to enable fully certified purchasing by the trade as of 1 January 2026.
To maintain the positive momentum and upward trend in certification, RFH has therefore decided to postpone the enforcement start date by one quarter. This provides growers with the opportunity to complete their certification trajectories on time and stimulates progress toward achieving the goal of 100% certification.
This means:
The established certification timeline remains in place.
For growers required to be certified by 1/1/2026, the enforcement schedule will be postponed by one quarter. Concretely: the certification obligation begins on 1/1/2026; the start of the levy, part of the enforcement, moves to 1/7/2026, with a doubling of the levy on 1/10/2026, followed by additional economic sanctions from 1/1/2027.
All members and non-member suppliers can continue trading via the RFH platform after 1/1/2026, with the certification obligation and postponed enforcement (levy and sanctions) applying as described above.
The paragraph on “enforcement and compliance” in the sustainability requirements will soon be updated accordingly.
The discontinuation scheme remains fully in effect, and the timeline for the Clock Focus group also remains unchanged (start date 1/7/2027).
All parties continue to work together to stimulate certification and monitor audit capacity. In addition to regular certification schemes, two schemes for small-scale growers are now available: FloriCompact (Agraya/GLOBALG.A.P.) and MPS-Compact (MPS). For trading companies, the RFH platform provides direct insight into whether a grower is certified according to FSI requirements, via the RFH clocks (FSI logo) or through a filter option in Floriday.
Trading companies, VGB and RFH continue working together to:
Encourage remaining growers to complete or start their certification trajectory.
Increase the percentage of certified purchasing among trading companies and motivate more companies to buy certified.
Encourage KOA buyers (who have their logistics handled by trading companies) to purchase only from growers certified according to FSI requirements in the short term.
In summary, the sector is making strong progress toward full certification. The focus now lies on completing ongoing certification trajectories, stimulating new applications, increasing certified supply, increasing certified purchasing by trading companies and KOA buyers, and supporting both growers and trading companies through this transition.
