CHEMICAL REGULATION
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a new survey to industry to understand the costs associated with the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). This is in the context of negotiations with the EU on a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, which covers BPR.
The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is expected to take effect mid-2027 and, the government says, make trade “easier, cheaper and more predictable”.
SPEED READ
- HSE, with Defra, have issued a survey to understand the costs to businesses of complying with the Biocidal Products Regulation
- The survey closes on 18 May and seeks to help inform negotiations between the UK and EU on a new SPS Agreement, which seeks to make trade simpler.
The SPS Agreement, by bringing greater regulatory alignment between the UK and EU, could make trade smoother and reduce costs on businesses involved in the development and production of biocidal active ingredients and products. The results of the survey will help to inform the negotiations and could help secure a better deal for the industry and its customers.
What is SPS?
The government has been working to secure an SPS agreement with the EU since May last year to make trade between the UK and the EU, and within the UK between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, smoother.
The agreement should lead to greater alignment between the UK and EU on several issues, covering trade in plants, animals, and food.
As part of this, it has been announced that the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) is in scope.
When the UK was in the European Union (EU), many regulations, including BPR, were identical, but since the UK officially left the EU in 2020, two versions of BPR have emerged: GB BPR and EU BPR.
EU BPR also continues to apply in Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is leading the negotiations, believes these changes to BPR “may affect product authorisation, labelling, supply chains and operational practices of organisations across the biocides sector”.
Make your opinion known
Working with Defra, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched its own informal survey to understand the costs businesses face complying with BPR, “including generating data for active substance and biocidal product submissions and keeping track of HSE assessments of those submissions.”
TAKE THE SURVEY NOW
BPCA’s Chief Executive, Rosina Robson, is urging members – particularly manufacturers of products - to respond to the consultation:
“Consistent regulation between the UK and EU is beneficial for businesses and their products, the pest professionals who use them, and ultimately public health.
“Responding to the survey helps ensure that we get that consistency, and trade ‘easier, cheaper and more predictable’ as promised.”
Defra has published information for businesses on the SPS Agreement.
The deadline for the survey is 10 am on Monday, 18 May, and BPCA will be submitting their own response with a sector-wide perspective. If you have any comments that you would like to share, please email us at policy@bpca.org.uk.