Existing GB products: transfer to GB BPR

Article 89 of the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR) lets biocidal products, which are currently allowed to be made available on the market under other national law in Great Britain (GB), transition to authorisation under GB BPR.

Such products will contain existing active substances that are under review for the relevant product type as part of the GB Review Programme.

Making available on the market means any supply of a biocidal product, whether in return for payment or free of charge, at all stages of the supply chain. Some examples of this could include:

  • manufacturer to distributor
  • distributor to retail store
  • retail store to user

Biocidal products that are already available on the GB market under other national law fall into two categories:

Find out which category your product falls into.

If you have a product on the market in Northern Ireland (NI) under COPR(NI) or other national law, the requirements may be different. If you need help, please contact us.

Action needed

To keep your product on the market in GB, whichever of the above categories it falls into, you will need to:

You can continue to make applications to amend COPR approved products in GB in the run-up to the GB BPR active substance approval date. The latest deadline to submit GB COPR amendment applications to HSE is 3 months before the last active substance approval date under GB BPR for your product. Amendment applications submitted after this deadline will not be accepted.

You can continue to place new products on the GB market under COPR or other national law providing one of the following is true:

  • all of the active substances in the product are still under review for the relevant product type under the GB Review Programme for existing active substances
  • one or more of the active substances has already been approved for the relevant product type, and at least one of the other active substances in the product is still under review for the relevant product type under the GB Review Programme for existing active substances

Requirements vary for in situ generated active substances and biocidal products (including precursors). Find out more about in situ generation and check the requirements.

Products made available on the market under COPR or other national law in GB must:

What happens next

GB BPR application submitted by the deadline

Biocidal products can stay on the market under COPR or other national law in GB while your GB BPR application is being evaluated, for up to 3 years after the approval date for the last active substance.

You must continue to comply with:

GB BPR application not submitted by the deadline

If you do not apply for product authorisation under GB BPR by the deadline, your product can only continue to be made available on the market in GB within the following phase-out periods:

  • 180 days for making the product available (at all stages of the supply chain)
  • 365 days for its use

During the phase-out periods, you must continue to comply with:

Outcome of GB BPR application

Product authorisation granted

From the date of authorisation, any new stocks of the product made available on the GB market must comply with:

During the phase-out periods, you must continue to comply with:

Product authorisation not granted, or application rejected

If, after evaluation, it is concluded that a GB BPR product authorisation cannot be granted, or the application is rejected at any stage, your product can only continue to be made available on the market in GB within the following phase-out periods:

  • 180 days for making the product available (at all stages of the supply chain)
  • 365 days for its use

During the phase-out periods, you must continue to comply with:

Active substance(s) not approved

If one or more of the active substances in your product is given a non-approval decision under GB BPR, your product can only continue to be made available on the market in GB within the following phase-out periods:

  • up to 12 months for making the product available (at all stages of the supply chain)
  • up to 18 months for its use - any existing COPR approval in GB will expire 18 months from the date of the non-approval decision

During the phase-out periods, you must continue to comply with:

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Updated 2022-10-20