1. Overview
Biocidal products are controlled in:
- Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) under the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR)
- Northern Ireland under the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (EU BPR)
These regulations control:
- biocidal products that control harmful or unwanted organisms through a chemical or biological action
- that chemical or biological action does not need to be directly acting on the harmful organism. A product with a chemical or biological action that forms part of a chain that leads to the control of the organism can be in scope, even if the final direct action against the organism itself is physical.
- products that control or stop the organism's harmful action - repellents are an example of biocidal products that do not kill
They do not control products that work only by physical means – such as fly swats, UV fly killers.
Biocidal products regulated under other legislation
The definition of a biocidal product[3] is quite broad. Some types of biocidal product have other more specific legislation that applies to them in the UK and may be exempt from BPR. For example:
- products to control algae, snails and slugs to protect trees and plants from damage may be regulated as plant protection products[4]
- products to disinfect human skin before an operation, to treat disease or anti-lice shampoo may be regulated as human medicines[5]
- products applied to animals to kill things such as fleas and ticks may be regulated as veterinary medicines[6]
- products to disinfect equipment used in the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness or disease may be regulated as medical devices[7] - for example, disinfectant wipes used on stethoscopes
- other products applied to human skin may be regulated as cosmetics[8] - for example anti-dandruff shampoo
A full list of the exempting law is given in Article 2 of GB and EU BPR[9].
If you think your product is regulated by any of the exempting law, you need to check with the relevant authority for that law for confirmation - HSE cannot advise on the scope of these other pieces of law.
Products with more than one use
Where a product has dual use, for example as a biocidal product to kill insects in the home and as a plant protection product to kill insects on garden plants, then the requirements of both sets of law (biocidal and plant protection regulations) will apply.
Food stuff as a biocidal product
If food stuff is supplied with the intention that it will repel or attract flies, insects or rodents to a trap, it will be a biocidal product. For example, if you supply a wasp trap pre-baited with jam, you are supplying a biocidal product.
If you just sell the wasp trap and the user buys the jam from the supermarket, there is no supply of a biocidal product.
Non-biocidal use of products and active substances
GB BPR and EU BPR exclude products and active substances not used for biocidal purposes. This is where a known active substance is used in other products but not for biocidal purposes. For example the use of an essential oil as a fragrance rather than as an insect repellent.
Other laws and regulations in GB[10]