The revised standard and rules for the NI Beef & Lamb Farm Quality Assurance Scheme (FQAS) requires herbicide and pesticide applications to be carried out by an accredited operator with a certified sprayer.

The need for certification to apply herbicides and pesticides is already a legal requirement, but on-farm checks have been limited to date. The new FQAS standard comes into effect from 1 June and if spraying takes place on participating farms, inspectors must be shown receipts from a certified contractor or a certificate of competence accredited to a member of the farm business.

Inspectors will also ask to see records of spraying and evidence that boom sprayers over five years old have up to date accreditation under the National Sprayer Testing Scheme. Another change to the standard requires scheme participants to sign and comply with a list of farm safety considerations outlined in the revised standard and rules booklet. Most of the list is made up of rules that were included throughout the previous version of the FQAS standard.

The only other new code added to the booklet is the need to comply with the campaign for the responsible use of rodenticides. Scheme participants that set rat and mice poison will be required to complete a bait plan detailing poison type, its location, and dates it was inspected and replenished.

Other changes to the FQAS standard are minor amendments to existing rules or new recommendations. These include a new veterinary medicine record to contain the date a withdrawal period ends and the reason for treatment. Also there is a new animal health plan template.

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