From November 2015 there is a change afoot regarding who can apply Professional Pesticides. It is almost thirty years since the Control of Pesticides Regulations (COPR) were introduced in 1987 following the enactment of the Food & Environment Protection Act of 1986 (FEPA).  Under the rules introduced in COPR, users of pesticides approved for professional use in agriculture horticulture and amenity horticulture need a certificate of competence to apply them.

To facilitate the ‘easing in’ of these new regulations the Minister of Agriculture of that era made an exception which became known as the ‘grandfather rights’ – to give time for all spray operators to get qualified.  In the 28 years since these rights were first allowed, many  litres of chemical have flowed through the sprayer pipework and now it is time for them to end!   This and other changes to the way we use pesticides, are part of the UK’s programme to implement the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive 2009/128/EC (known as SUD) issued by the European Parliament.  This directive called for all member states of the EU to draw up plans to make the continued use of pesticides sustainable for the future.

Pedestrian controlled and knapsack sprayers will not need a test certificate but should be checked regularly

Statutory Instrument No 1657  “The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012” (SUR 2012) were laid before the UK Parliament on 27th June 2012 and came into force on 18th July 2012.  These regulations will bring an end to the grandfather rights and introduce the requirement for regular testing of application equipment.

The grandfather rights allowed uncertificated spray operators to continue to apply PPP’s on land that they or their employer owned, if they were born before the 31st December 1964.  The rights did not apply to spray contractors.  These rights are being laid to rest on the 26th of November this year (2015).  After this date it will become a legal requirement for everyone applying PPP’s authorised for professional use, to hold an appropriate certificate of competence.

With regard to the responsibilities of employers and managers, there are new rules relating to the purchasing of PPP’s and delegating their application.  It is now an offence for anyone to purchase PPP’s, if it is known that the person carrying out the application is not qualified to do so, unless they are to be supervised during the whole process by a suitably certificated person.   The regulations also state that “No person shall cause or permit any other person to use a plant protection product authorised for professional use unless the person using the product holds a specified certificate or works under supervision”.

Individuals who are already qualified to use application equipment will not be affected by these new rules, as their certificates meet the requirements of the Directive and will remain valid.  However, anyone who has attended spray application training but has not yet taken the test will need to do so before the 26th November this year if they wish to continue to apply PPP’s in the future.

It is unlikely that the loss of grandfather rights will affect many of those working on golf courses in the UK, as the vast majority of course maintenance staff are trained and tested in pesticide application as part of their greenkeeper training programme, usually at a local college of agriculture.  However, they will need to address the issues of sprayer testing as most use some form of vehicle or tractor mounted sprayers.  Under the regulations users have a responsibility to make sure the equipment they use is properly maintained and has a test certificate where appropriate.  The parts of the turf market where most grandpas operate are in the village sports clubs such as football, cricket, tennis and bowls and also on schools playing fields.  These are the area’s most likely to be affected by the demise of the grandfather rights.