COPR approval
Approval is required for products within the scope of the Control of Pesticides Regulations (COPR) where:
- in Great Britain (GB), the active substance is still being reviewed under the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR)
- in Northern Ireland (NI), the active substance is still being reviewed under the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (EU BPR)
Find out if your product is eligible for NI COPR approval by checking the status of your active substance(s) in NI. COPR is a precedent based system. This means that, when you apply for approval, we compare the product details you have submitted with other products that are currently approved in GB and NI under COPR. We look for features in the application which would require a new risk assessment or efficacy assessment to be carried out, such as:
- higher / lower concentration of active substance
- different application rate / method
- different area of use
This initial assessment is called fee-banding and determines the type of application your product will be processed as and how long the evaluation will take.
The summaries below will give you an overview of the different application types, but don't worry if you aren't sure exactly which one is relevant for your product – you should still submit your application and our COPR Approvals Team will work this out in the fee-banding.
Committee application types
Committee application types involve some assessment of the active substance and need to be considered by the Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP).
New COPR active ingredient
If the active substance in your product is not present in any product currently approved under COPR, a full data package for the active substance will need to be assessed before the product can be approved.
Contact HSE for advice on making an application for a new active ingredient.
Committee re-submission
If the active substance in your product is present in products currently approved under COPR but your product is of a different product type, data covering the active substance for the new use will need to be assessed before the product can be approved.
Contact HSE for advice on making an application for committee re-submission.
Non-committee application types
Non-committee application types may also involve some assessment of the active substance. However, non-committee application types can be processed by HSE without consideration from the ECP.
Departmental
If the active substance in your product is present in products currently approved under COPR within the same product type but the amount of active substance or the uses fall outside existing precedents, data for the product will need to be assessed before the product can be approved.
This will be flagged during fee-banding and the COPR Approvals Team will provide you with guidance if you need to submit data.
Secretariat
If the active substance in your product is present in products currently approved under COPR within the same product type and the amount of active substance or the uses fall within existing precedents, no assessment of data for the product will be needed before the product can be approved.
Back-to-back
If your product is identical to one that is already approved, you may be able to gain approval by the back-to-back route. Identical means the same:
- formulation
- application rate
- user group(s)
- pest(s)
- usage area
Allowed differences are:
- product name
- approval holder
- marketing company
The back-to-back route can also be used to apply for a number of identical product applications at the same time.
Amendment
If you have an existing product approval, you can apply for changes to your product by the amendment route if the changes are still within the existing precedent.
Series change
If you want to make the same amendment to more than one existing product approval, you can do this by the series change route. Series change is usually used when:
- there is a single approval holder which is changed for another
- there is a single marketing company that is changed for another
- both of the above occur
Find out how to apply for approval or amendment via a non-committee application type.