For the first time, a shipment of flower bulbs has been exported to the UK completely paperless. The scoop is for the Onings business in Poeldijk, South Holland. The milestone is part of the “Paperless to the UK” pilot, which aims to address florist traffic to the UK entirely digitally.
Handelsbedrijf Onings has achieved completely paperless processing with the help of Chain Register. The application is made and a UK phytosanitary issuance is made on the basis of an electronic communication between eCertNL and its UK counterpart. The eCertNL team and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have been working on the possibilities for this in recent months.
With an annual export of around 850 million flower bulbs, the UK is one of the largest sales markets for the Netherlands. That's why I started the pilot. The trading company from Poeldijk is satisfied with how this first shipment has gone. The plan is now to roll out the method to all shipments to the UK.
According to Royal Anthos General Manager Marc-Jan Terwendt, this move also shows that all parties of the chain, including trade and governments, can effectively digitize the trade chain together. “Faster, simpler and fewer errors are the motivation to continue implementing the digital way of working. We wish everyone a fast follow-up and aim to continue this journey with other businesses in 2024.”
