The Royal Dutch Grain and Feed Trade Association

The Royal Dutch Grain and Feed Trade Association (Het Comité) is a trade organization representing the interest of approximately 120 members in the agri-business. 

Het Comité represents the interests of the affiliated members and is committed to a balanced and successful grain trade. We stand up for the interests of all members in the agricultural sector in the field of agricultural, food safety and trade policy. In particular, we are committed to removing trade barriers and ensuring food safety. Our advocacy takes place both in the Netherlands and at European level  in close cooperation with COCERAL.  

Members of ‘Het Comité’ come from various segments of the industry, such as

• animal feed traders, producers and brokers
• collectors
• warehousing and transshipment companies
• bio fuel producers
• flour mills
• compound feed companies
• crushers
• animal feed and roughage producers 
• factors
• grain, pulses and seed traders
• laboratories

You will find the members list here.

An active association  
The agricultural sector, and therefore also the members of Het Comité, attaches great importance to the production of safe food – for people, animals and the environment. That is why it is important that the cereals, seeds and pulses and animal feed raw materials are of good quality. In order to guarantee this quality, the members of The Committee comply with national and European legislation in the field of food safety. For example, companies active in the food or feed sector have a HACCP system (=Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) and companies that supply feed (raw materials) are certified according to GMP+. This international system imposes strict requirements on all links in feed production. 

Every year, Het Comité organizes various events, including the annual Grain Dinner in the former Grain Exchange in Rotterdam. In addition, there are several thematic meetings and informal sessions where members are informed about recent developments and can meet each other. Het Comité is also part of the consortium that organises the European Commodities Exchange (ECE) annually in a European country. The event has already taken place several times in the Netherlands and is planned for 2026 again in Rotterdam.  
In order to manage the (inter)national trade in raw materials, Het Comité has drawn up various standard trade contracts, such as the CNGD and the GZP. In the event of disputes based on these contracts, companies may apply to Het Comité for arbitration. In order to support trade, Het Comité organises the annual grain trading course, setting day values of products for parties on request and offers the possibility to store samples at COMOVA (Het Comité Sample Storage and Shipping Application).  

More than 150 years of history
Het Comité was founded by Rotterdam grain traders in 1872. From the start it was clearly an association focusing on commercial importers, for whom trading imported grain was a priority. Around the same time Het Comité was founded, The ‘New Waterway’ (Nieuwe Waterweg) was put into use, which provided an excellent connection between the port of Rotterdam and the North sea. This, in conjunction with various economic developments in Western Europe at the end of the 19th century, meant Rotterdam rapidly became the major distribution center for grain in Western Europe. 

If you are interested in the activities of Het Comité or have any questions about the association,  please contact cvg@graan.com or call +31 10 4673188.