15 december 2025
On 12 December, the RHP Central Committee of Experts held a meeting once again. This year, RHP welcomed several new members. Who have joined?
These are the new committee members: Annelotte Boudeling (ministerie van Landbouw, Visserij, Voedselzekerheid en Natuur), Ben Scheer (Tuinbranche Nederland), Dimitri Oosterwijk (Beekenkamp Plants) and Gert van Ginkel (Pokon Evergreen). Koos Hoogendoorn, member since 2016 representing users from ornamental horticulture, stepped down during this meeting. He was warmly thanked for his contribution over the past years. Efforts are currently being made to fill the vacancy.
The committee meets twice a year and plays an important role in safeguarding independence in decision-making on the development and revision of standards. All members of the committee contribute to this process. As such, the Central Committee of Experts is of great value to RHP.
The RHP quality mark for raw materials and growing media is continuously evolving. The standards, as described in the RHP product certification scheme, are updated annually. However, a change to a standard does not come about automatically. An initiative or proposal for a standard change is first discussed and further developed within the relevant product group. The independent Technical Committee then assesses the proposal from various specialist perspectives and provides advice to the Central Committee of Experts . The Central Committee of Experts is the body that oversees whether the process has been followed correctly and that takes the final decision on the proposal. Following a positive decision by the Central Committee of Experts, the amended standards are implemented in the RHP product certification scheme. This takes place annually on 1 February, after which the standards come into force on 1 May. Certified, affiliated companies therefore have three months to implement all updated requirements in their operations and quality management systems.
