British Ornamental Plant Producers. Committed to Raising Standards

About the British Ornamental Plant Producers' Certification Scheme

The origins of BOPP

The British Ornamental Plant Producers' Certification Scheme (BOPP) was developed in the mid-90's, initially for the pot and bedding plant industry as a scheme that would provide growers' customers reassurance that their suppliers were meeting certain criteria with respect to legal, environmental and quality requirements.

The Scheme was established by the British Bedding and Pot Plant Growers' Association (BBPA), now the British Protected Ornamentals Association (BPOA) and funding for the original Standard and Sample Manuals was provided by the Horticultural Development Company (HDC).

The original Scheme was very much focused on protected ornamental crops, but since then it has evolved to include not only the requirements of the bedding and pot plant sectors but also the nursery stock, cut flowers and bulbs sectors, ornamental packhouses and growing media manufacturers. Each sector (grower, packhouse and growing media manufacture) currently has its own unique Standard).

Other more recent Scheme developments include obtaining UKAS accreditation for a number of the Standards, benchmarking of the Grower Standard to the GlobalGAP Flowers and Ornamentals Standard and the option for certification against the LEAF Scheme.

Scheme management

The BOPP Scheme has been developed by the industry for the industry; it is a non-profit making organisation. BOPP as an organisation has evolved since its inception and is now a Limited Company, comprising a Board of Directors and a Technical Advisory Committee, with representatives from all sectors of the industry. The Chairman, Board Members and Technical Advisory Committee are unpaid positions; the Scheme Managers and Secretary are paid on a part-time basis. UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accredited certification is effected via National Britannia Certification Ltd.

Current situation

BOPP offers a range of benefits, to its membership with certification available to four Standards, two developed for growers, one for ornamentals packhouses and one for growing media manufacturers. Members are supported by workshops, help-lines, and technical information including sample manuals, templates, guidance notes and reference documents, with information accessible via the BOPP website. The BOPP Rules and Operating Procedures provide more details about the structure of the Scheme, including membership and inspection fees (Annex 1). From the beginning of the certification process, the BOPP Scheme has been developed to make the transition to a certificated business as straightforward as possible.