Our Organization
Excellence Through Stewardship (ETS) is a global non-profit organization that promotes the universal adoption of product stewardship programs and quality management systems for the full life cycle of agricultural technology products.
​Components of Excellence Through Stewarship
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Principles and management practices for the responsible management (handling, governance, oversight, etc.) of agricultural technology.
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Guides and technical resources to understand and implement stewardship and quality management systems.
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A Stewardship Audit Process that involves members contracting for independent third-party audits of their operations to verify that stewardship programs and quality management systems are in place.​​
ETS Global Stewardship Audits
ETS participants must undergo ETS Global Stewardship Audits, conducted to verify that appropriate stewardship programs and quality management systems are in place.
ETS establishes minimum audit requirements that member companies are required to meet using audit criteria and methods that meet Excellence Through Stewardship’s Objectives, Principles and Management Practices. These audits are conducted by independent, third-party auditors who have participated in the ETS Auditor Training Program and have received their “ETS Qualified Auditor” certificate.
Flexible Program Nature
Designed to Accommodate any Size, Scope or Type of Operation:
The program is flexible enough to work for organizations of any size, scope or areas of operation. The program has been successfully implemented by large multinational corporations with hundreds of sites around the world as well as by small organizations with fewer than a dozen employees focusing on only one phase of the life cycle.
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Applicable to any Biotech Seed or Plant Product:
The scope of ETS is seed and plant biotechnology. Our many resources have the flexibility to be adaptable to any type of product. This includes a wide variety of traditional row crops, specialty crops including fruits and vegetables, plants designed for use as energy products, grasses and even trees designed to promote sustainable forestry.
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Implementation is Effective Under any Regulatory Authority:
The ETS program is designed to appropriately promote stewardship and quality management regardless of the geographic location of an operation or activity and the regulatory authority under which you may be operating. Compliance with regulations is an overriding goal of the program and it is designed to assist members in meeting the particular set of regulations that are applicable to their operations by encouraging the development and implementation of standard operating procedures, product traceability, documentation and training.