It became a legal requirement to test all pesticide application equipment from November 2016, under the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations. These regulations stipulate that routine testing must be carried out at specified dates and intervals, and this is applicable to all sectors.
For all new pesticide application equipment, the first test is due before the machine reaches five years old. From November 2020, changes to the regulations specified that all boom sprayers over 3 metres, air blast sprayers, and train and aircraft sprayers must have been tested within the last three years. This would mean that any sprayer that meets these requirements and was tested after November 2017, must be tested every three years. The testing intervals are different for boom sprayers under 3 metres, micro-granular and slug pellet applicators, and other specialist application equipment; these items require a re-test every six years.
The above testing intervals are a legal requirement as outlined in the Sustainable Use Directive (SUD). However, they do differ to the standards set by the Red Tractor Combinable Crops & Sugar Beet and Fresh Produce farm assurance schemes. Under these assurance schemes, boom sprayers over 3 metres and nematicide applicators must be tested annually. All other pesticide application equipment must be tested as per the SUD requirements outlined above, in order to fulfil Red Tractor standards.
In addition to this, it is worth noting that knapsacks, handheld and pedestrian application equipment do not require an NSTS test. Instead, the equipment needs to be inspected by a competent person, repairs and maintenance carried out where required, and records kept.
More information on the frequency of pesticide application testing can be found here.
