Public Comment on Revised Standards
Protected Harvest had previously posted the following standards for public comment:
BloomCheck Standard Version 2.0, June 2019
The BloomCheck Certification Standard was originally developed by the California Cut Flower Commission in 2012-2013 as a self-assessment of best management practices for the sustainable production of cut flowers, and then evolved into Version 1.0 of the BloomCheck Certification Standard in late 2014 after an intensive peer review process.
The current revision has been informed and guided by the following objectives:
- Update the Standard to reflect state of the art best practice and science in sustainable agricultural production; and,
- Expand the scope and applicability of the BloomCheck Standard beyond cut flowers to greens and potted plant operations.
Some of the main revisions include:
- Revision of Integrated Pest Management practices related to invasive pests to be more generally applicable to invasive pests and less specific to Light Brown Apple Moth.
- Revision of answer choices for specific practices that are not applicable to potted plant production.
- Revision of practices throughout to remove or modify references to California-specific regulatory frameworks, while maintaining BloomCheck’s high caliber of practices.
- Addition of a Potted Plan Annex that contains 10 additional practices applicable only to operations that produce potted plants.
THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD IS NOW CLOSED.
To review the final standard after the public comments process, please click here.
Sustainable Citrus Standard Version 2.0, July 2019
The Protected Harvest Citrus Standard was first developed by Protected Harvest in 2008. The Standard has been applied to certify citrus growing operations since 2008.
Version 2.0 of the Standard is the result of a major revision process carried out in 2019 on the previous version of the Standard. The revised Standard is now named the Protected Harvest Sustainable Citrus Standard Version 2.0.
The revision of the Standard was informed by the following objectives:
- Update to reflect the latest best practices in agricultural production and Integrated Pest Management; and,
- Expand the scope of the Standard to include social responsibility and energy management criteria, along with additional criteria in existing chapters.
Highlights of revisions and updates include:
- Revision of criteria text to improve the language in the Standard;
- Reorganization of criteria, criteria numbering, and chapters to improve Standard organization and flow; and,
- Integrate Audit Requirements into the Standard. (Previously, information to support growers’ understanding on what type of evidence is needed was included in a separate Companion Document.)
Version 2.0 is applicable to citrus growing operations in the United States.
THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD IS NOW CLOSED.
To review the final standard after the public comments process, please click here.