Biocides: active substance status

2. What it means for your product

Find out what action you need to take based on the status and regulatory process for the active substance in your product.

Approved or Approved - under renewal

If the date of approval has already passed for all the active substances in the relevant product type, under any regulatory process, you will need to apply for and receive GB or EU BPR product authorisation. You must do this before the biocidal product can be made available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets.

If the date of approval is in the future for any of the active substances in the relevant product type you should check which of the following regulatory processes applies.

New or Non-Review Programme existing active substances

If any of the active substances in the relevant product type is a new active substance or a non-Review Programme existing active substance you will need to:

  • apply for GB or EU BPR product authorisation by the approval date for the last active substance/product type combination
  • receive authorisation before the biocidal product can be made available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets

Review Programme for existing active substances

If all the active substances in the relevant product type are under the Review Programme for existing active substances, you:

Article 93 active substances

Article 93 of GB and EU BPR provide a derogation for biocidal products that were not in scope of previous biocides legislation (the Biocidal Products Directive). This allows them to remain on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets as long as the active substance was supported by the relevant deadline.

If any of the active substances in the relevant product type is an Article 93 active substance and your product was not in scope of previous biocides legislation you:

Not approved

New biocidal products containing any active substances that are not approved for the relevant product type cannot be made available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets.

Existing biocidal products containing any active substances that are not approved for the relevant product type will be subject to the following phase-out periods:

  • up to 12 months for supplying the product in Great Britain or Northern Ireland at all stages of the supply chain
  • up to 18 months for using the product in Great Britain or Northern Ireland

The phase-out periods will begin following the publication of the non-approval decision for the active substance.

During the phase-out periods, your biocidal product must still comply with:

Expired

If any of the active substances for the relevant product type have expired, you cannot make the product available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets.

Under review

If any of the active substances in the relevant product type are under review and the others are listed as approved, open invitation or notified, you:

Under assessment

If any of the active substances in the relevant product type is a new active substance or a non-Review Programme existing active substance, you will need to:

  • apply for GB or EU BPR product authorisation by the approval date for the last active substance/product type combination
  • receive authorisation before the biocidal product can be made available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets

If any of the active substances in the relevant product type is an Article 93 active substance, and your product was not in scope of previous biocides legislation (the Biocidal Products Directive) you:

Application withdrawn

If any of the active substances are listed as application withdrawn for the relevant product type you cannot make the product available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets.

You can support the active substance through the assessment process, but it cannot be used in biocidal products made available on the market before it’s approved and you have received product authorisation.

Open Invitation or Notified

If any of the active substances are listed as open invitation or notified for the relevant product type and the others are approved or under review, you:

No longer supported

New biocidal products containing any active substances that are no longer supported for the relevant product type cannot be made available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets.

Existing biocidal products containing any active substances that are no longer supported for the relevant product type can continue to be made available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets until a non-approval decision is published.

Following the publication of the non-approval decision, existing products will be subject to the following phase-out periods:

  • up to 12 months for supplying the product in Great Britain or Northern Ireland at all stages of the supply chain
  • up to 18 months for using the product in Great Britain or Northern Ireland

During the phase-out periods, your biocidal product must still comply with:

Not listed

If the active substance in your product isn't on the list, you cannot make the product available on the Great Britain or Northern Ireland markets.

You can support the active substance under GB or EU BPR, but it cannot be used in biocidal products made available on the market before it’s approved and you have received product authorisation.

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Updated 2024-06-12