Monitoring traps

What monitoring traps are

Monitoring traps are used to assess the necessity for, or effectiveness of, pest management measures. For example, by showing early warning signs of pests in a specific location or indicating the size of pest populations.

These traps are intended only for monitoring purposes, such as counting insects, and are not intended to influence the overall size of the population. Monitoring traps may or may not contain a pheromone, other attractant, or other biocidal active substance.

Monitoring for pests can help identify when action needs to be taken to protect foodstuffs, raw materials, commodities, buildings, or infrastructure. They can also help individuals, businesses, organisations, and society to maintain high standards of hygiene or prevent damage or destruction and to minimise the use of biocidal products.

How monitoring traps are used

Monitoring traps may be used as a tool in an integrated pest management plan by professionals or individuals, to monitor and find out if there is a problem.

Monitoring traps can provide an indication of whether pests are present and the potential size of an infestation, and can help capture insects for identification, meaning any subsequent treatment can be targeted to a specific species.

This approach enables informed decisions to be made over control or eradication of problem numbers of pests and for control treatments to be carried out only when risk from the insect or pest is established.

Monitoring traps and the BPR

HSE, as the UK biocides competent authority, holds the position that traps which contain an attractant purely for monitoring purposes to assess the necessity for, or success of, pest management measures, and which are clearly labelled, sold and used as such, are not considered to be within scope of the GB or EU Biocidal Products Regulation 528/2012 (BPR).

This means they do not require authorisation to be placed on the UK market.

If a trap attracts insects or pests because of its colour only or captures insects on a sticky surface simply by random ‘chance’ and does not contain a pheromone, other attractant or other biocidal active substance, the mode of action of the trap could appear to be by a merely physical action. If that is the case, it may not meet the definition of a biocidal product within the scope of the BPR. However, it remains the responsibility of the company making the trap available to be able to suitably justify why their product should not fall within scope of the regulations, for example if challenged by enforcement authorities.

Traps intended solely for monitoring purposes should be clearly labelled and marketed as such and should not make any claims or inferences that it could be used as a biocidal product, for example claims to reduce, control or kill the target organism, or images such as dead insects.

To avoid potential confusion, HSE advise that such traps clearly indicate they are for monitoring purposes in the product name, such as Insect Monitoring Trap, Fruit Fly Monitoring Trap, or similar indications. We also recommend that the product label should not use words such as reduces, eliminates, kills, controls, or otherwise indicate that it has a biocidal action against the organism of interest. Labels or accompanying leaflets may explain treatments or actions which can be taken when the monitoring trap indicates a pest problem.

Where a trap is intended for purposes beyond purely monitoring, such as those intended to reduce the insect population, to control the pests, or for mass trapping, they may be considered as being marketed primarily for biocidal purposes. This means that they may therefore be regulated as biocidal products under GB or EU BPR.