We have been notified that the European Commission have made changes to the EN1384 hat standard (this also includes BSEN1384) and it will no longer be recognised as an acceptable standard for riding hats in the UK. However, in order to phase out the use of EN1384 and/or BSEN1384 hat standards, the BRC 2015 / 2016 hat rules will be changed as follows:
- There will be no changes to the accepted hat standards for 2015 and hats will continue to be tagged with the BRC blue hat tags.
- However, from 1 January 2016, ALL hats must be checked and tagged with a new ORANGE BRC hat tag. All hats which only meet the standard EN1384 or BSEN1384, and do not comply with another standard off the above list, WILL NOT be accepted and therefore will not be permitted for any BRC competition. Hats which bear EN1384 or BSEN1384 along with another standard from the above list, will be tagged. For example, BSEN1384 & PAS015 (1998 or 2011) along with the Kitemark, would be acceptable, but not BSEN1384 on its own.
- From 1 January 2016, no hats with a peak of any description will be permitted for the XC phase of any BRC competition. Hat covers and silks will be permitted.
This wording will be added to the BRC 2015 Rule Book so that members have a year’s notice as to the changes that we will be implementing in 2016. We will also be putting this in Rider, Enews and on Facebook.
Please find attached a press statement from BETA which has gone out today and explains a little more detail and also each discipline’s stance on accepted hats going forward.
I have also attached a BETA FAQ document which you may find useful. Please feel free to share these with Clubs and Members.
We will be contacting you all again in 2015 to go through in more detail the changes and new tagging procedures for 2016.