CDC in certification galore for meeting global standards.

Codenamed, GlobalGap Certification, it addresses environmental, economic and social sustainability for on-farm processes and vouches for the safety and quality of both food and non-food agricultural products.

CDC was awarded by the London-based certification agency known as the NSF Certification UK Ltd.

The latest edition of the corporation’s magazine, Inside CDC, reports that the certification is a mandatory requirement for banana to be sold in European Union markets.

The GlobalGap standard requires that producers establish a complete and standard control and monitoring system; requiring products to be registered so that they can be traced back to the specific farm where they are or were grown.

The benefits of the certification include assurance on produce quality and safety improvements, facilitation of market access and reduction in compliance risks regarding permitted pesticides.

The CDC also has in its kitty, the renowned Ecovadis Certification; which is a provider of business sustainability rating services. 

They evaluate how well companies have integrated the principle of Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, into their business management systems.

Management insists that the certification is important to the CDC Group Rubber sector because it is a major requirement for the company’s partners. 

As the corporation needs to pass the evaluation in order for the business and trading partners to ascertain that CDC is implementing a good CSR as well as respecting environmental and labour standards.

CDC also has both the Environmental Permit and the Certificate of Environmental Conformity. 

The first is issued by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development. It allows the company to carry out activities which may have an impact on the environment and human health. It provides restrictions to minimise damage to the environment and human health.

The permit covers water and air pollution, radioactive contamination and other environmental and human hazards. Thanks to the permit, the CDC has been given the go-ahead to use plastics more than 61 macrons and less than 60 macrons.

The Certificate of Environmental Conformity certifies that the company’s products meet the required standards or specification as required by the International Standards Organisation, ISO, specifically ISO 14001, which is the standard for environmental management systems.

According to the company’s management, the certificate is often requested by a buyer to ensure that CDC’s products have been tested and meet both technical and safety requirements.

Prioritising security

Due to the precarious security situation that has almost crippled the company over the past seven years, management decided to restructure its services. 

The new posture requires all workers to be security conscious and work to promote the safety of one another. “Be each other’s keeper, despite the challenges”, management stated in its newsfeed publication, Inside CDC.

The publication revealed that over the past years of security crisis, workers of the company have endured a lot; even though recovery from the devastation caused by security challenges also depends on them; without which the company can never regain control over its activities and be able to carry out required rehabilitation work and eventually exploit vast portions of her plantations.

It was in view of the scenario that the Board of Directors took Resolution Number 1171 of 17 December, 2023, directing management to upgrade the security service to the level of Directorate of the Security Services.

“The role played by the zonal security chiefs in ensuring the protection of the corporation’s  property, fight theft and encroachment and other ills cannot be over emphasised,” management stated in its corporate publication.