The Floriculture Sustainability Initiative based in Holland (see The Produce News, “Floriculture initiative based in Netherlands aims to easily compare sustainability certifications,” June 4, page 130) has named a working group to develop a tool to eliminate duplication and make it easier to compare programs.

The steering committee of the initiative named an eight-member committee to develop what it termed an “equivalency tool” between June and September 2012. Members of the group include the Kenyan Flower Council; Asocolflores, the Colombian flower exporters group; and ZVA and LTO Noord Glaskracht in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, floral industry public policy groups, according to a statement.

Also represented on the committee are Dutch Flower Group in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands; UnionFleurs, a flower trade group based in Brussels, Belgium; a nonprofit group named OLAA; Ahold, an international grocery chain with headquarters in Amsterdam; and Florint, a European florist organization with offices in Strasbourg, France, representing florists to the European Commission.

The work group is tasked to deliver two documents: a “sector-supported Equivalency Tool” and “Terms of Use of the Equivalency Tool.”

A second working group was set up to develop a governance system, recommend a corporate home and suggest funding sources for the initiative, also with a September deadline. Members include Expoflores in Bogota, Colombia, and the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Also represented on the committee are FloraHolland in Aalsmeer, which operates six flower auction centers; UnionFleurs; ANCEF, an Italian association of flower exporters in San Remo, Italy; BGI, a German wholesale and import trade group in Essen, Germany; Rainforest Rescue International; and VGB.

The committee’s charge includes proposing a system of governance including membership rules and regulations, a model for funding the organization and its activities, and a draft agreement with an organization to house the initiative and recruit staff for it.