Biocidal products

In Iceland, the Environmental Agency of Iceland is the Competent Authority.

The Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR, Regulation (EU) 528/2012) concerns the placing on the market and use of biocidal products, which are used to protect humans, animals, materials or articles against harmful organisms, like pests or bacteria, by the action of the active substances contained in the biocidal product.

Biocidal products are used to control harmful organisms. Many of these products are hazardous to human health and the environment. 

The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR, Regulation (EU) 528/2012) introduces harmonised rules for authorisation of active substances and biocidal products on the EU/EEA market.

The BPR is fully implemented in Icelandic law through the Icelandic Biocides Regulation. This means that all the general rules and requirements laid down in the BPR apply also in Iceland.

Some of the main principles of the BPR are:

• The BPR covers 22 biocidal product types, divided into four main groups: disinfectants, preservatives, pest control products and other biocidal products. All the product types are listed in Annex V of the BPR.
• In-situ generated biocides are also covered by the scope of the BPR.
• Active substances must be evaluated and approved on EU/EEA level, based on dossiers prepared by the industry with sufficient data on the substances and their use areas (product types). A review programme has been established based on the industry's notifications, with a list of active substances to be evaluated in different product types (see Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1062/2014).
• Biocidal products whose active substances are approved for the relevant product type, must be authorised for use in the country they are to be marketed in. Several forms of product authorisation exist, e.g. national authorisation, mutual recognition , union authorisation and simplified authorisation.
• While an active substance is still being evaluated for use in a certain product type, the affected biocidal products can stay on the market subject to national rules in the individual countries (navigate the left menu for national requirements in Iceland during this transitional phase).
• The BPR gives requirements for treated articles, i.e. products treated with or incorporating biocidal products.
• For the sake of fairly sharing the costs of data for active substance dossiers, all suppliers of active substances and biocidal products in the EU/EEA must have submitted either an active substance dossier or a letter of access to such a dossier, by 1 September 2015.

From 1 September 2015, a biocidal product consisting of, containing, or generating a relevant substance, cannot be made available on the EU market if the substance supplier or product supplier is not included in the list for the product type to which the product belongs.

Read more about these and other issues concerning the BPR on the website of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) .