If farmers or landowners use pesticides in the course of their business, they must register as a business to DAERA by December 31.

In a statement, DAERA says if you are a business, organisation, or sole trader who operates within Northern Ireland and who uses pesticides in a professional capacity as part of your work activity; or if you have professional pesticides applied by a third party as part of your work in agriculture, horticulture, forestry or the amenity sector you must register your business with DAERA. This is a new legal requirement and the legislation can be viewed at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2020/360/contents/made

A spokesperson stated; "When we refer to pesticides, we mean plant protection products used to protect crops against harmful pests and diseases, checking or preventing undesirable growth of plants, or to control weeds. Examples include insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, molluscicides, plant growth regulators and seed treatments."

The Department has launched an online registration application. For more information and to apply please visit: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/official-controls-plant-protection-products-regulations-northern-ireland-2020-list-operators and the information you provide will be used by the Department in the organisation of official controls.

For help with registration please visit our FAQ page at https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/faqs-ni-list-pesticide-operators-registration-process

If you need to inform DAERA of any problem with the registration portal, you can email pesticides@daera-ni.gov.uk using ‘List of Registered Pesticide Operators – Query/Problem’ in the subject line.