Action fields of Belgapom
Environment
Belgapom has collaborated to the creation of the guidelines for the best available technology for the fruit & vegetable sector.
Training and seminars
Belgapom has been recognised as the training office via a Q-for label. This allows companies to participate at Belgapom tranings & seminars making use of subsidies from the SME wallet (Flanders) and traning cheques (Wallonie).
Innovation
The vigorous growth of the Belgian potato sector needs to be supported by a continuous innovation along the complete potato chain. Belgapom organises every two years the international event for the potato, fruit and vegetable sector Interpom Primeurs in Kortrijk Xpo. Belgapom is also the co-founder of the Belgian Inno Potato Award, a biannual competition for potato growers to demonstrate their innovation techniques to their colleagues.
Agricultural advice
Via the Platform for the processing of and trade in plants and plant products, Belgapom has contributed to the creation of the ICQM standard (Integrated Chain Quality Management), which allows producers of plants and plant products to get a certificate for their different commodities on the level of food safety, environment and technological quality.
Belgapom is also a partner of Vegaplan.be, that takes care of the management of the standard and the affiliated producers.
This ICQM standard is actually in the middle of a procedure to become equivalent to similar systems in the Netherlands (VVAk) and Germany (Q&S).
Quality and food safety
In a collaboration with Vegebe and Fresh Trade Belgium, Belgapom has worked out the Self Checking Guidelines for the potato, fruit and vegetables trade and processing industry, which allows to assure the food safety in these links of the chain.
These guidelines have been recognised by the AFSCA on 3 Januar y 2007 and helps companies to get a certificate or validation of the self checking system. These guidelines have been edited via a easy to use website in Dutch and French.
Belgapom is also working out a yearly sampling plan for the potato sector, which includes a number of samples tested on the presence of CIPC and heavy metals. These values are compared with the norms for food and feed.
This samling plan helps the members to control the costs of this obligation.
In a number of starch holding food stuffs, such as biscuits, coffee and potato products (frites or chips) fried at high temperatures (> 120°C) the presence of acrylamide has been discovered. Despite the fact that the health risks have not yet been confirmed, the potato processing industry has taken a number of actions to reduce its presence in the frites and chips. This has lead to a 'toolbox' elaborated by the European association EPPA and the food industry association CIAA, which is also used by the European Commission as a reference on its website.
Belgapom has edited washing cards for Bintje and firm cooking varieties. These cards create 5 classes for fresh washed potatoes based upon external quality. These cards are available at the Belgapom secretariat at € 15/set.
The Belgian potato processing industry has imposed on itself a number of quality standards for the production of prefried frozen frites. these standards concern the composition, quality and colour of the product and have been deposed at the Belgian Federal Public Service for Economical Affairs in 1998.
Plant health items
The prevention of the presence of harmful organisms on plants (such as brownrot or ringrot), wart disease a.o.) remains a high priority for Belgapom and the Belgian potato sector, taking in consideration the free trade of seed and ware potatoes on the common European market.
Belgapom has taken the initiative to defend the interest of the profession in its relationship with the competent AFSCA.
In collaboration with the agricultural associations and test centres for potatoes, Belgapom has developed a prevention plan for 'nematodes'.
In the framework of the self checking legislation the companies have to organise a plant health sampling scheme. Belgapom tries to reduce also these costs by means of a sectoral sampling plan.
Market information
Belgapom is providing to its members a regular overview of the potato market.
The Belgapom quotation is a weekly pice quotation defined by 4 people from the trade and 4 representatives of the processing industry. This Belgapom quotation is one of the representative European quotations which is used to define the 'cash settlement price' of the Frankfurt potato futures.
Contract policy
Belgapom is advising its members to create good buying and selling contracts. Also the guidelines for good contracts between the trade and processing industry on the one hand side and the farmers on the other hand has recently been worked out by Belgapom in collaboration with the farmers' unions.
RUCIP
Belgapom holds the Belgian RUCIP secretariat.
Promotion
Belgapom participates in the generic promotion for seed and ware potatoes via the Flemish VLAM and the Walloon APAQ-W.
A recent campaign in partnership with the UK and France has been subsidised by the European Commission.
Belgapom is also active in the promotion of exports of seed and consumption potatoes in collaboration with VLAM, FIT and AWEX.
Belgapom has taken the initiative to create the Belgian Task Force for the UN International Year of the Potato 2008. This has resulted in a website giving an overview of the actions for the consumers, professionals and school children.
Social items
Belgapom has - together with the social partners - worked out a new function and wage classification for the potato processing and peeling industry.
Belgapom collaborates on the social issues with UNIZO and Fevia.
Sustainability
Potato cultivation is a relatively local type of cultivation for which only limited transport is possible due to the nature of the product (a potato consists of water for some 80 %).
For economic reasons, numerous measures are taken at company level to limit the environmental impact of the transport as much as possible:
Crop
· Warning systems for phythophthora: Since 1997 potato growers can register to receive regular warnings. The project’s aim is to reduce the use of crop protection agents by replacing spraying by season by more directed treatments on the basis of a warning.
· Control the spread of nematodes (potato root eelworm): Belgapom is an active partner in a project organised by the [Belgian] Ministry of Public Health to chart the spread of Globodera spp. in Belgium. An informative website has been set up, together with the entire chain www.nematodes.be.
Compulsory crop rotation within the framework of the ICQM standard (see www.vegaplan.be) and the possibility of using resistant varieties ensure that the risk of this harmful organism spreading is reduced.
· ICQM standard: Farmers are increasingly being confronted with numerous requirements both with regard to food and plant safety, the environment and quality. The ICQM Standard for the Primary Vegetable Production offers the farmers a guide to meeting these requirements in practice in a simple, feasible and affordable way. What is more, an audit procedure recognised by the FASFC leads to a certificate that can be included in the quality systems for trade and processing.
Trade & Processing
· Efficient transport: transportation of raw materials to the company and transportation of finished products to the end customer is organised as efficiently as possible. New initiatives are being taken at company and sector level for this. One example is participation of the sector and various companies in the pilot project in the province of West-Flanders that wants to promote the transportation of frozen vegetables and potato products by rail.
· Far-reaching cuts in the consumption of water and re-use of water, whilst still guaranteeing food safety. Sharp decreases have been achieved in pumping up groundwater, practically all the companies have their own waste water treatment installation and re-using the purified water for the steps of the production process for which permission is granted by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain. This approach has a favourable impact on sustainability with regard to water.
· Ecological packaging: where possible packaging on the basis of renewable and natural materials is used. In this respect the companies have incorporated FOST plus and Val-I-Pac into their operations.
· Energy consumption: almost all the companies, including various SMEs, have registered for an energy benchmark or audit, which has led to a sharp decrease in the sector’s energy consumption.
· In the end, the companies have set up their own process with an eye to a sustainable production process. More information is available on the websites of these companies.
Corporate social responsibility
- Succeeding the UN International Year of the Potato in 2008, Belgapom has decided to offer in 2012 - 2013 a sustainable support to the TRIAS development project Conpapa in Chimborazo (Ecuador). Belgapom has choosen a task manager in the person of Marcel Delamillieure in order to guarantee continuous counselling. The Belgapom members are invited to set up in the coming years actions to provide the project in Ecuador with further development tools in order to create local sustainable welfare through potato related activities.
