5. THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF FIRST PURCHASERS REGISTERING WITH THE NATIONAL DAIRY FARM ASSURED SCHEME

i. All active producers must be registered with the Scheme for the periods April to September and/or October to March. Non producing quota holders need not be registered with the Scheme.

ii. Each first purchaser will be required to pay an annual registration fee of £500.00 + VAT payable in one instalment. The first payment is due at the time of application and submission of documentation for approval by the Scheme administration.

iii. A registration fee of £6.00 + VAT per active producer is payable on registration and at 1 April and again at 1 October.

iv. In second or subsequent years of operation, the Board of Directors will determine a fee for first purchasers joining the Scheme for the first time, which will take account of the set up costs of the Scheme.

v. Registration with the Scheme entitles first purchasers to use the National Standards, the Checklist and the Guidelines. First purchasers are required to incorporate the exact wording of the assessment Checklist into their documentation. The Scheme administration will examine all first purchaser documentation prior to confirming registration.

vi. First purchasers must include the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme introductory paragraph into their scheme documentation as shown below:

"The Standards of the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme have been incorporated into this scheme. Including these Standards and meeting the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme criteria of registration, is confirmation of our (or company name) endorsement and total commitment to promoting and operating to the requirements of this national initiative"

vii. When the first purchaser documentation has been received by the Scheme administration it will be examined to ensure it complies with the Scheme requirements. Every effort will be made to carry this out quickly. The first purchaser will be advised in writing if changes are required or that the documentation is satisfactory and registration is confirmed.

viii. The Checklist is divided into 'MUST' and 'SHOULD' criteria. For the initial period of operation of the Scheme, compliance is achieved by attaining ALL of the MUST criteria.

ix. The SHOULD criteria are still to be addressed during the farm assessment and dairy farmers should be given guidance on corrective action.

x. It is the intention of the Board of Directors to consider how the SHOULD criteria can be incorporated into the compliance/non-compliance procedure in due course.

xi. First Purchasers registered with the Scheme can only use assessors that have successfully completed the specific four day or one and a half day training course. Certificated assessors will be listed on the Scheme database. Assessors must complete a minimum of 6 assessments annually.

xii. Assessors or their employers will meet the costs of assessor training.

xiii. First purchasers, can make the decision as to which training course their appointed assessors are to attend. The one and a half day course is designed for assessors with considerable assessing experience. The four day course is designed for new assessors or those with limited experience. The Scheme reserves the right to insist that those assessors failing the one and a half day training course, attend the four day course at the first purchasers expense.

xiv. In order to monitor the performance of the Scheme, each registered first purchaser must supply the Scheme administration, within 30 days of each six monthly period ending 31 March and 30 September, with the following information;

- number of active producers registered
- number of farms audited
- names of assessors
- for each question on the Checklist, the number of farms passed, requiring corrective action within 90 days, or failed.

xv. Independent auditing of assessors, records and farms by auditors approved by the Scheme is required.

xvi. The costs of auditing will be set by the Board of Directors and will be met by the first purchaser being audited. [6.(d)] (The Board of Directors reserves the right to revise the costs of auditing, although they will provide six months notice of any change.)

xvii. First purchasers must uphold and promote the Scheme.

xviii. The Scheme will respect the confidentiality of any information provided by first purchasers, and gathered during training courses for assessment personnel, and during audits on farms. Information which is identifiable to individual first purchasers, individual farms or individual purchasers will be not be released. However aggregated information will be used to produce the Scheme's reports.

xix. Registered first purchasers have the right to propose changes and developments to the Scheme for consideration by the Board of Directors.

xx. Registered first purchasers are entitled to promote their own company scheme by use of the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme logo.

xxi. Any first purchaser considering terminating their registration with the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme, must provide one year's notice in writing.

xxii. First purchasers that fail to act on the recommendations made by an auditor of the Scheme will be referred to the Board of Directors for review. If a satisfactory arrangement cannot be agreed between the Board of Directors and the first purchaser as to the corrective action needed, the Board reserve the right to expel the first purchaser from the Scheme.