Defra minister for sustainable food and farming, Lord Rooker, praised progress on implementing the Fertiliser Industry Assurance Scheme (FIAS), but warned that unless there is a higher takeup, Defra will be forced to regulate it.
In a response to a report on FIAS, Rooker acknowledged that a lot of work and determination had gone into getting the scheme off the ground, but he also warned that more companies need to become certified if the fertiliser industry is to avoid more costly regulation.
“The total number of FIAS certified companies, whilst encouraging, needs to be increased,” he said.“If we can’t make FIAS fully operational, we’ll need to seriously consider proceeding down the regulatory route, which I can assure is likely to be more expensive and complicated than FIAS.”
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