Phosphorus (Use in Agriculture) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

PART 3 GENERAL

General duty of owner and/or controller

5.  In complying with any duty under these Regulations the owner and/or the controller of a holding shall have regard to any guidance which may be issued from time to time by the Department and/or by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for the purposes of these Regulations and, in accordance with Article 4 of the Directive the Code of Good Agricultural Practice as may be amended from time to time.

Duty of controller to provide information

6.—(1) With effect from the operative date of these Regulations, the Department may by notice served on the controller of a holding applying chemical fertiliser to any agricultural land, require the controller to furnish the Department, as required, the following information on an annual basis:

(a) the identity of the controller of the land for the calendar year in question;

(b) the size and location of each field in the holding to which chemical fertiliser was applied;

(c) the results of any soil tests carried out to satisfy compliance with Schedule 1;

(d) a statement of the foreseeable phosphorous requirements of the crops;

(e) the quantity of each type of phosphorus fertiliser applied, the certified phosphorous content of the chemical fertiliser, the total phosphorus content per tonne of other organic manures as declared in accordance with regulation 2(3) and the date of application of any phosphorous fertiliser; and

(f) the type and date of any crop sown.

(2) For the purposes of the discharge of its functions under paragraph (1), the controller of a holding shall prepare the information for each calendar year by 30 June of the following year and shall retain such information for a period of 5 years from that date.

(3) A controller shall not compile information, which is false or misleading to a material extent or furnish any such information in any notice or other document for the purposes of these Regulations.