SANC Certification Mark
A prominent feature of the SANC Program is the certification mark awarded to the qualified nursery to use on its shipping materials. The certification mark application will be submitted to the US Patent and Trade Office for registration as the official protected mark owned by the National Plant Board. The application contains specific attached informational materials, the certification mark artwork and descriptions of purpose and use. A certification mark on a commercial
product indicates the existence of an accepted product standard or regulation and a claim that the manufacturer has verified compliance with those standards or regulations. The specific specification, test methods, and frequency of testing are published by the standards organization. Certification listing does not necessarily guarantee fitness for use.
SANC Governing Board
In June 2018, the SANC Governing Board met face-to-face to discuss how to sustain and support SANC in
2021 when the program is fully implemented and beyond. The Board identified training, verification (formerly known as “audit”) and funding support as the three key elements to ensure SANC remains a goldstandard in nursery certification. Training, both to meet the needs of new or current state inspection staff in the areas of inspection and verification were identified as ongoing priorities that will likely be funded through Farm Bill training proposals such as those under discussion currently in the Strategic Alliance Training Committee. Additionally, the other critical area of focus was on verification procedures to ensure there is consistency amongst states utilizing SANC for nursery certification and to maintain confidence amongst domestic and international trading partners in the SANC process. The Board also discussed the need to maintain an ad hoc Technical Advisory committee to evaluate and validate best management practices for future inclusion in the SANC process to keep the program on a cutting edge with production technology and industry needs. Over time, the Board will continue to refine and develop these structural components in time for a 2021 implementation.
SANC Agreements
There are several agreements that a State Certifying Agency (SCA) will need to sign related to SANC.
- One is an agreement between the SCA and the nursery that wants to participate in SANC. This legally binding agreement states that the nursery will produce, handle and ship plant material as specified in their Facility SANC Manual.
- The other agreement is a logo agreement between the SCA and the NPB. This agreement limits the use of the SANC logo (certification mark) to nurseries that are currently enrolled in SANC.
SANC Committees List with Co-Chairs
- Pilot: Larry Nichols (VA), Robin Rosenbaum (MI)
- Outreach: Piera Siegert (NH), Anni Self (TN)
- Document Review and Forms Team [DRAFT]: Dan Kenny (OH), Duane Sinning (CO)
- Evaluation: Brian Kuhn (WI), Chris Logue (NY)
- Training: Collin Wamsley (MO), Joe Collins (KY)
- Inspector: Morgan Dube (NH), John Wraspir (WA)
- Core Group: Dana Rhodes (PA), Joe Collins (KY), Aurelio Posadas (NPB), Wayne Dixon (NPB)
SANC Training Subcommittee
- States with trained staff: 33
- CA counties with trained staff: 8
- Over 160 individuals trained through
- 7 separate trainings
Upcoming Training Opportunities
- September 25-26, 2018 Indianapolis, IN
- March 2019 Charlotte, NC
- September 2019 Denver, CO
- March 2020 western region
SANC Inspector Committee
Morgan Dube and John Wraspir (committee co-chairs) reached out to the HIS chapters about what their current funding situation is and what they would like to see in the future. They requested meeting budgets and agendas from each chapters’ recent meetings. Deadline: Sept 20
The Inspector FAQ document is currently a compiled list of questions; however, we are still working on getting all the appropriate answers. Once we have the answers, we will send off to the DRAFT committee for review. It will then be ready for the SANC website.
There is a “What are your State Training Needs” email thread going through EHIS right now. This may help NPB identify/prioritize training areas.
Pilot Nursery Updates (8/9/2018)
[table id=1 /]
* Phase 1 nursery
** Phase 2 nursery
*** Transition nursery (a state is able to go through all SANC steps on their own because the state already has a fully certified SANC nursery)
wip = work in progress
Outreach Committee
New outreach materials are available for distribution, some items are offered in Spanish as well as English.
Many outreach materials can be printed directly from the SANC website, from the “Request Outreach Materials” page.
New SANC floor banners designed & ordered. Each regional plant board houses a floor banner. To request a banner or other outreach materials to promote SANC, go to the SANC website to “Request Outreach Materials” and submit the request for the items.
A photo portal is available to submit photos of nursery practices for use by the SANC team. It is located here: sanc.nationalplantboard.org/nursery-review-portal
A website work-group has been assembled to ensure that the SANC website streamlines the SANC process. A contract is in place for website development & changes. The goal is to have a re-designed website available by the end of January 2019 for review.
Evaluation Committee
The Evaluation committee has formulated a set of interview questions to get feedback on the SANC process from the risk assessment forward to full certification and shipping. This is targeted primarily at the Phase 1 nurseries. We hope to have this completed by early fall.
Evaluation is also reviewing feedback from the last two inspector trainings (FL and CA) and will report back on these results in the early fall.
DRAFT Committee
The DRAFT committee is working on a SANC Program Reference Manual for SANC Inspectors. It is intended to be modeled somewhat after the PEQ manual or Export Certification Manual. We are adding content using previously created SANC documents and will be collaborating with the inspectors, pilot and training subcommittees to help with additional content and edits. The goal is to have this completed by early 2019.
Risk Assessment Tool
The Risk Assessment Tool Application is under development as provided by Farm Bill funding. This electronic application will replace the current spreadsheet version of the Risk Assessment Tool. The new application will be formatted for use on desktop, laptop and tablet computers. An emphasis is placed on use of selectable menus to assist a user in filling out the risk assessment. A NPB working group is in place with representatives from the NPB (State Plant Regulatory Officials and Inspectors) and Industry to help guide the development and testing of the application as the software developer brings forward modules. Preliminary pages of menus were shown to the NPB Steering Committee at a recent meeting. Several additional add-ons were identified for incorporation into the application. Field testing of the application is anticipated later in the year.
