The horticultural sector has been hit hard by the corona crisis. The MPS group empathizes and does everything it can to continue to support growers together with all links in the chain. We understand that it is a very difficult situation and do our utmost to ensure that you remain certified within the rules and conditions set by the standard owner. Below you can read how we guarantee your and our business continuity.
To prevent further spread of the coronavirus, we have taken a number of audit measures. It is important to follow the advice of the RIVM (the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment).

Due to the health risks surrounding the coronavirus and the announced measures by the government, and conditions from the standard owners, MPS-ECAS has decided to conduct the audits remotely until further notice. It is possible that a company visit will take place at a later time.

What does a remote audit mean?
The auditor will contact you by telephone to determine how the audit will be conducted. During the audit, documents are assessed and, where possible, a tour of the company takes place via, for example, Skype, FaceTime or WhatsApp.

How is a remote audit performed?
To make the audit run as smoothly as possible, we ask you to:

  • If you do not have Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp or a similar program, download one of these programs on your smartphone, tablet or computer. If you do not have a smartphone, tablet or computer, see if you can use such a device from, for example, a family member or employee.
  • Prepare forms and registrations on your computer so that you can show them to the auditor.
  • The auditor may ask you to email documents to him/her. These documents are reviewed by the auditor and then removed. The documents are not included in your file. If necessary, the auditor will discuss this with you. We follow the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
  • If interviews with employees are part of the audit, these will take place by telephone or via the aforementioned programs.

By means of a remote audit we ensure that your certificate remains valid or can be renewed. Depending on the requirements of the standard owner, the remote audit can be supplemented at a later date with an audit of the company. This can be an announced or unannounced audit.

Cancellation of the audit
The rules for canceling audits remain in effect. If you cancel the audit less than ten working days before the audit date, you will receive an invoice for 75 percent of the audit amount. With a cancellation on the day of the audit you will receive an invoice of 100 percent of the audit amount.
If an audit is canceled and canceled by you, it is possible that a new audit cannot be performed before the expiry date of your certificate or that there is insufficient time between the new audit date and the expiry date of the certificate. This may expire your certificate.
MPS-ECAS is not responsible for the fact that your company is (temporarily) not certified and for the consequences that may arise if you cancel an audit yourself.

Visits to or from MPS and MPS-ECAS in general
Not only are the auditors no longer visiting your company, this also applies to other departments within our organization. Until further notice, there will be no visits from MPS and MPS-ECAS to other organizations and we will not receive visitors at our office. We will try to make the agreements already made through Skype or by phone, but if this is not possible, we are unfortunately forced to postpone the appointment.

Finally, we hope that your business activities will not suffer too much under the current circumstances and we wish you a lot of strength in the near future.