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Marketing statements

Marketing & Sales statement Rijk Zwaan

  • Rijk Zwaan is active in breeding, production and sales of vegetable seeds for professional growers worldwide. Rijk Zwaan makes a continuous effort to fulfil the wishes of its customers and other parties concerned.
  • Rijk Zwaan complies – at least – with the statutory requirements arising from legislation regarding the marketing and sales of standard seed of vegetable crops.
  • As of the financial year 2025/2026, Rijk Zwaan will include the reporting and accountability of its sustainability policy, in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, in the annual report to be published by Rijk Zwaan each year.
  • Rijk Zwaan is responsible for the quality of its seeds and checks the quality continuously in an extensive testing programme in the field and in various laboratories. The quality testing programme is audited by the official Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture, Naktuinbouw.
  • In order to supply top quality seeds and the best service, Rijk Zwaan operates in accordance with a quality management system to control and improve the quality of all activities and processes from breeding to sales. This system is audited internally on a regular basis.

Rijk Zwaan furthermore operates in accordance with the following standards:

  • NAL (Naktuinbouw Authorized Laboratories): Rijk Zwaan is authorized by Naktuinbouw to perform specific tests, such as germination tests, physical seed purity tests, and specific tests on (seed born) diseases.
  • GSPP (Good Seed & Plant Practices): a standard that aims to prevent tomato and tomato rootstock seeds and plant lots from being infected by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. Michiganensis (Cmm). On the packaging of the seeds is mentioned if the seeds are produced under GSPP conditions.
  • Rijk Zwaan is certified by various inspection bodies, to produce and sell organically produced seeds under the quality label for organic products of the respective countries.

All quality systems mentioned above are audited on a regular basis. Furthermore, through variety name and batch number on the original packaging, all our seed lots can be traced throughout the entire process, from production to sales. This traceability is also very effective against reproduction and sales of our seeds by unauthorized third parties and may also be used in various external quality assurance and production systems like GlobalGap.

  • Managing and maintaining seed and plant quality and health in the fresh produce chain is a joint effort from several stakeholders. Each individual stakeholder takes decisions on seed storage, production and cultivation methods as well as on risk mitigation measures at its own discretion and at own risk.
  • All varieties in Rijk Zwaan’s present range are obtained without making use of genetic modification techniques which lead to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to which Directive 2001/18 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Communities of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of GMOs applies. The foregoing applies to Rijk Zwaan varieties which have been or will be marketed in the year 2023.
  • Rijk Zwaan considers the risk of any regulated GMOs being present in the propagating material of its varieties very small. When developing the propagating material of Rijk Zwaan varieties the greatest possible care is exercised based on existing legal requirements relating to the marketing of varieties. Moreover, the methods used in the development and production of this propagating material include procedures to prevent the presence of regulated GMOs.
  • Much of Rijk Zwaan’s research is focused on resistances. The resistance coding applied by Rijk Zwaan is based on guidelines for resistance coding that are developed by the International Seed Federation. It is important, in general to stress that the specificity of pests or pathogens may vary over time and space, depends on environmental factors, and that new pest biotypes or pathogen races capable of overcoming resistance may emerge. The Rijk Zwaan resistance codes and the Rijk Zwaan resistance statement are available on the website www.rijkzwaan.com.
  • Seed treatment is only applied by Rijk Zwaan in case it considers this the most effective method to control a possible disease and/or pest, and/or to realize a reduction in crop spraying; Rijk Zwaan acts hereby in conformity with the applicable statutory regulations.
  • Further information on Rijk Zwaan and its varieties is available in our catalogues, pricelists, leaflets and on the website www.rijkzwaan.com. Here, also important information on sales conditions and product information can be found.

January 2024

The original English version is the prevailing version (www.rijkzwaan.com)