Biocides regulations

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)

But some types of biocidal product have other specific legislation that applies to them in the UK and may be exempt from BPR. For example, plant protection products and medicines.

Check your product is regulated as a biocidal product

Control of Pesticides Regulations (COPR)

COPR is an older law that only applies to some types of biocidal products. These products can continue to be regulated under COPR while the active substance is still being evaluated under GB or EU BPR.

More about COPR and the products it applies to

Schemes for disinfectants

If your product is a disinfectant, it may need to comply with one or more of the following schemes that apply in Great Britain:

  • aquaculture - disinfectants that have been independently validated as effective against viral and bacterial diseases affecting freshwater fish
  • drinking water - disinfectants used in drinking water from the source of the water, up to the point of delivery to the consumer's building
  • veterinary - disinfectants used against certain named pathogens such as foot-and-mouth disease, swine vesicular disease and tuberculosis

These are schemes HSE is aware of and this list is not exhaustive. HSE does not operate these schemes and cannot offer any advice on their requirements.

These products will require HSE authorisation under GB BPR once the biocidal active substance is approved under GB BPR. These products may also need to continue to comply with the requirements of the relevant scheme after the product has a GB BPR authorisation.

General regulations to comply with

Biocidal products may be covered by general chemical and product safety law which continues to operate in Great Britain such as:

Specific elements of GB BPR also apply to all biocidal products before (and after) the product is authorised under GB BPR, namely:

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Updated 2021-08-17