The Canadian Nursery Certification Program (CNCP) started in 1998 by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA); a program to ensure nursery shipments from Canada to the United States are pest-free. The CNCP adheres to the principles outlined by International Organization for Standardization. The standards ensure certified nurseries adopt best management practices and exceed the current regulations in order to maintain consistent and reliable export to the United States.

Willowbrook joined the program in 1998 and has exported product to the United States under certification since. Involvement in the CNCP makes certain that our facilities are completely free all of quarantined, non-quarantined and non-regulated pests. This also requires complete compliance with the CFIA and USDA regarding any plant-specific phytosanitary requirements. Very few nurseries across Canada have CNCP certification. Willowbrook proudly has Phase I status allowing our facility to generate its own Phytosanitary Certification Labels.

How Does It Work?

In order to completely ensure that our facility is quarantine pest free and virtually non-quarantine pest free, Willowbrook is staffed with more than half a dozen employees that are certified CNCP inspectors. In addition, there is a Pest Control Manager (PCM) and PCM assistant on site to verify pests and treat accordingly and as necessary. These employees inspect all plant material before it enters shipping and production areas to ensure that no contamination takes place. When a shipment is sent to the United States, all material is thoroughly inspected to ensure that no pest cross-contamination will take place and that any ineligible material never attempts crossing the border. In addition to inspecting export material, thorough inspection is performed on international imported material. When we import material, it is subject to inspection by the CFIA before it can be released into our production.

What Does This Mean To The Customer?

When you purchase a product from a CNCP certified nursery, you are receiving the assurance that you will not receive any pest-infested plant material that could have devastating effects on your own plant material. In addition, there is no risk of quarantine due to the strict guidelines that we adhere to before the plant material ever leaves out facilities. In addition to this assurance, we are able to ship our product cross-border with next day service, due to the certification of our in-house inspectors and CNCP team.