Custom plant passport generator and batch tracing software
Plants for planting that are traded within the EU come with a plant passport, which has a fixed format and a traceability code that refers to the batch. Appfront builds software that creates the passports from your own orders and batches, puts them on the label or delivery note, and keeps track of which batch came from which supplier and went to which customer. So when the inspection service asks a question, you have the answer in one go.
What is a plant passport generator with batch tracing?
Under the new European plant health rules, Regulation (EU) 2016/2031, plants for planting must be accompanied by a plant passport when traded within the EU. The format is set out in implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2313: a label with the EU flag and fixed elements, including the botanical name, the operator's registration number, a traceability code and the country of origin. Consignments to a protected zone in another country require a PZ passport. Passports are issued by the inspection services, or by companies authorised to do so by their inspection service.
The rules also require you to be able to show where a batch came from and where it went. In practice, the passport is often written onto a label by hand, and the traceability code is not recorded in your administration. When a batch is split or repotted, its origin gets lost. And when the inspection service asks which customers received plants from an infected batch, the search begins.
We build custom software because every business grows and delivers differently. One nursery works with batches per greenhouse, another with batches per purchase, and a trader splits and combines. The software creates the passports from your own orders, and the traceability code points to the batch in your administration, so the passport and the tracing form a single whole.
Passport from the order
With the right elements.
Batch traceable
From supplier to customer.
Ready for inspection
The answer in one go.
How we build your plant passport generator with batch tracing
We start with your business: which plants you trade, how your batches are organised, how you currently create passports and labels, and what the inspection service asks for. Then we integrate with your cultivation and order administration, so batches, orders and customers are already in the system. We often start with the passport on the label or delivery note, because it comes up with every delivery. Full tracing of splits and growing on follows once that is running well. After that, we keep the software up to date as the rules or your way of working change.
Plants, batches and labels.
Cultivation, orders and customers.
Passport and tracing.
Go-live, and maintenance when rules change.
What a plant passport generator with batch tracing actually does
The components below appear in almost every plant passport generator with batch tracing. Which ones you need depends on your business and your plants.
Plant passport
In the prescribed format.
Traceability code
Points to the batch.
Labels and delivery notes
Printed with the order.
Lots
Receipt, splitting, growing on.
Protected zones
In the correct format.
Register
Per supplier and customer.
Who we build a plant passport generator with batch tracing for
The software is intended for businesses that issue plant passports and need to be able to trace their batches. The more batches and customers you have, the more it delivers.
Tree nurseries
Many varieties. Batches per field.
Pot and perennial plants
Large quantities. The label counts.
Flower bulbs and seed potatoes
Seasonal. Origin counts.
Trade and export
Splitting and combining.
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This page is about the plant passport and batch tracing. For the nursery as a whole, from cultivation to sales, see our page on nursery software; for ornamental horticulture on the move, our page on the ornamental horticulture app; and for tracing in other sectors, our page on batch tracing. You can read about our way of working on building custom software.
Why Appfront for your plant passport generator with batch tracing?
A passport written onto a label by hand, a traceability code that appears nowhere in your records, and batches that lose their origin when they are potted on: all of these cost a nursery time with every delivery and certainty with every question from the inspection service. That is what we build on: passports generated from the order, batches you can trace back, and the answer in one go.
No manual work
Passport from the order.
Origin retained
Even after splitting and potting on.
Instant answers
When the inspectors ask.
Security and privacy for a plant passport generator with batch traceability
The software processes data about your batches, suppliers and customers. Access is set up per role, and every passport and every entry is logged with who created it and when, so the register stands up to an inspection.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. We document the processing in a data processing agreement.
Frequently asked questions about a plant passport generator with batch traceability
Questions that growers and traders ask before they get started.
The format is laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2313: the words Plant Passport, the EU flag, and elements A to D. These are the botanical name, the operator's registration number, the traceability code and the country of origin. Plants going to a protected zone require a separate format listing the organisms concerned.
Yes, provided your business has authorisation from the inspection service in your sector: BKD, KCB, Naktuinbouw or NAK. Your business then has a single phytosanitary registration number, which appears on every passport. The software generates the passports, but the registration and the authorisation are yours to arrange.
A code that is unique to each batch, so you can establish where the plants come from. For sales to the end user it may sometimes be omitted, except for a number of designated species. In the software, this is the batch code from your own records, so passport and traceability always go together. How you number your batches is up to you.
The new batches receive their own code, and the software remembers which batch they came from. That way you can later trace a delivered plant back to the original batch and the supplier, and follow a batch forward to every customer who received plants from it.
Records of suppliers, customers and received passports must be kept for at least three years. The software keeps the register for as long as needed, and you can export it by period, supplier or customer. If you are unsure about your situation, we refer you to your inspection service.
Often, yes. Passports can be printed on the labels and tags you already use, or on the delivery note, and batches come from your crop registration or order system. We look at which integrations are possible with your software in the first step.
For tree nurseries, pot and perennial growers, flower bulb and seed potato businesses, trading growers and exporters, and wholesalers who trade plants onwards. If you supply a few species in fixed lots to a few regular customers, your current label is often still enough.
Passports without manual work, lots you can trace?
Tell us which plants you trade and how you currently produce passports. We'll show you what the software looks like.