BPCA’s chief executive Ian Andrew represented the pest control industry in the fight for glue board use at a Welsh Parliament Select Committee earlier this month.
The hearing took place on November 9, and was an opportunity for a committee of Welsh members of parliament to scrutinise the proposed legislation in the Agriculture (Wales) Bill.
Part of the Bill includes the provision for a ban on the use of snares and glue traps, and stakeholders were invited to present evidence, both for and against.
In defence of glue traps, Mr Andrew said: “The use of glue traps is to protect public health. When rats and mice are out there, they’re doing their own thing; whenever they’re inside and in contact with humans, that’s when the issues start.
“The glue board is the only tool we have in our toolkit to catch a rat or a mouse quickly. There’s nothing else. We have other tools and they will control rats and mice eventually, but it’s whether you’re willing to wait for that to happen – it is an issue of speed.”
Mr Andrew told the committee that BPCA is strongly against the use of glue traps by amateur users, and supports a licensing system for professional use only.
When asked what a licensing system for a pest professional should look like, Mr Andrew explained that any system would need to account for speed of use and that BPCA would be happy to help build a workable licensing scheme.