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myBMP Certification: Starting the Process
Cotton Australia’s myBMP team has moved to demystify the process for certification so that growers yet to register have a clear view of how structured the program is, and how CA staff can help make it achievable in a reasonable timeframe.
Cotton Australia’s myBMP Manager Rob Crothers said while there are now 625 myBMP vertified farms in Australia, one of the key issues identified by growers who have not yet engaged with myBMP, is the fear of the unknown.
“When we have asked some newly certified growers why they had not registered earlier, its common to hear that they are too busy, can’t afford the time to dedicate to the tasks or believe the money required to become compliant will be astronomical.
“The reality is far from that, and the close to 80% of growers who are now certified or registered are our best advocates. Often when our Regional Managers visit their growers, they will identify that most of them are already compliant or close to it, and only minor improvements are required to gain their myBMP status.”
Mr Crothers said most myBMP growers readily admit that the changes they have made in line with the myBMP Criteria have improved their businesses, and in some cases, identified areas that they didn’t know were legally required, avoiding potential breaches.
Another area that becomes a focus of the myBMP program is workplace health and safety, resulting in most farms implementing additional safety procedures and developing their policies, making their place of work a safer environment for families and their workforce.
Sustainability is also a major element of the program, with core modules including pesticide management, soil health, water efficiency.
Achieving myBMP certification not only strengthens the foundation of each business by documenting your processes, but it also supports the industry's social licence.
To start the process, contact your Cotton Australia Regional Manager today to begin your myBMP certification journey, follow these steps:
Start the Process
- Register Online: Growers must register online. The myBMP Office will assign access levels, create a business account, associate known farms, and set up a self-assessment. An email confirmation will be sent upon completion. Register for myBMP.
- Conduct a Self-Assessment: Complete the self-assessment of all Level 1 and Level 2 checklist items, ticking the boxes for the checklist items you can demonstrate compliance with. Where specified you will need to make and maintain records for verification.
- Regional Manager Pre-Audit Check: Your Cotton Australia Regional Manager can do a final pre-audit check to assess your readiness.
- Request an Audit: Once the self-assessment is complete, request an audit via the myBMP Assessment page, selecting a preferred auditor from the provided list.
- Audit Setup: The myBMP Office will verify the self-assessment and a random module for the audit will be generated by the myBMP program. An audit is conducted on the five core modules of:
- Pesticide Management
- Petrochemical Storage and Handling
- Soil Health
- Sustainable Natural Landscape
- Water Management, plus one random module from the following:
- Biosecurity
- Energy Efficiency
- Fibre Quality
- HR & WHS
- IPM (Insects, Weeds, and Diseases)
- Auditor Assignment: The auditor is to contact the grower within three business days to schedule the audit and conduct the audit within one month. If this can’t be achieved, it is recommended the audit be reassigned, where possible.
- Conduct the Audit: The auditor will perform an on-farm audit, gathering objective evidence through record inspections, interviews with management and staff, and observations of infrastructure.
- Findings Report: After the audit, the auditor will present their findings and provide a written summary of any non-conformances within three days.
- Corrective Actions: To close out non-conformances, growers must take corrective actions and submit evidence (e.g., photos or documents) to the auditor. Once reviewed and accepted as meeting the myBMP requirement, the non-conformances will be closed.
- Follow-Up on Non-Conformances: If all non-conformances are not addressed within three months, the auditor will escalate the case to the myBMP Office.
- Final Report and Scrutineering: After closing all non-conformances, the auditor finalizes the report for the Lead Auditor to review for consistency across all auditors. This process can take up to 10 business days.
- Certification Approval: Following review of the audit, the Auditor will provide the grower with a copy of the report and their recommendation, resulting in certification of the business and farm.
- Certification Period: Certification lasts for five years.
- Application and Code of Conduct: All growers who request an audit to become myBMP Certified must complete an Application for myBMP Certification, Code of Conduct and provide a farm map with lot on plan details prior to certification being granted. Implementation of the Code of Conduct allows Cotton Australia to set expectations around conduct, business ethics and professional integrity of a certified entity and its staff during the certification period, enhancing the integrity of the myBMP program.
- myBMP Certificate and Farm Gate Signs: These will be provided by the myBMP Office following an audit recommendation and the Application and Code of Conduct information has been provided in full.
