Are you still in possession of a food safety certificate (VVC), a predecessor of TopCrop? That is possible. TopCrop originated in 1999. Following a number of foreign food and feed scandals, the Dutch arable farming sector began experimenting with independent business certification via a three-year project, named Kwaliteitsproject Akkerbouw (KPA; in English: Quality Project Arable Farming). This project came to an end in 2002. With more than 1,200 participating arable farms, certification in the various crop chains continued with so-called VVCs. Because multiple crops are grown at most arable farms, 2005 saw the creation of the certificate of compliance known as Voedsel- en Voederveiligheid Akkerbouw (VVAK; in English: Food and Feed Safety Certificate for Arable Farming) via the merging of the VVCs. Since then, growers have been able to choose one or more VVCs or VVAK with one or more crop modules.
Over the years, more and more customers have started using their module in VVAK. Currently, there are only VVCs for sugar beets and potatoes for human consumption (for the processing industry). Growers still using these VVCs can ask for these to be converted into TopCrop via their CB. For although the VVAK is a national certification scheme, last year it emerged there was a need for further professionalisation and information for (foreign) clients. This led to the updating of the TopCrop scheme.
