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[Cornish Gems]

FIAS has been developed by government, various stakeholder groups within the fertiliser industry and the AIC (Agriculural Industries Confederation). It has been created to deal with security concerns and covers all areas of fertislier assurance and traceability within the fertiliser industry supply chain.

Any company which is involved in the manufacture, haulage, selling, storage and even the importing, of fertiliser MUST be FIAS registered. The scheme means that these companies have to comply with a FIAS audit by which they must provide customers with a ten point plan for fertiliser security. An example is shown below.

Fertiliser Security

• DO NOT store fertiliser near to, or visible from, the public highway
• DO NOT store fertiliser where there is public access
• DO NOT leave bags of fertiliser in the field overnight
• DO NOT sell or give fertisliser to anyone unless you know that they are a genuine user and is aware of the need to follow a ten point plan
• DO keep a record of fertiliser purchases whether collected or delivered and also when you use it
• DO whenever possible (but don't forget to take HSE guides into consideration) store fertiliser in a locked building or similar
• DO cover up fertiliser if you have to store it outside
• DO carry out regular and frequent stocke checks and in particular check that none has been tampered with
• DO report immediately any unexplained stock discepancy or loss/theft to the police
• DO record any manufacturer's code numbers from the bags

Incidentally, we have also learnt that there is a requirement to provide a copy of the detonation resistance certificate if you 'sell' or 'supply' relevant ammonium nitrate based fertiliser although such detonation resistance test certificates do not apply in Northern Ireland.