Unfettered access notification

Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (EU BPR) applies in Northern Ireland (NI). Find out more about biocides in Northern Ireland.

The UK government is committed to unfettered access for NI goods moving to the rest of the UK market.

HSE will treat biocidal products as being authorised in Great Britain (GB) under the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR) where an NI-based business holds a valid authorisation or permit for the product under EU BPR in NI and wants to supply the product in GB. Valid EU BPR authorisations or permits may include:

However, for highly regulated goods, such as biocidal products, stricter regulation is necessary to protect workers, consumers and the environment and so the following conditions must be met before the biocidal products can be placed on the market in GB:

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:

To protect workers, consumers and the environment, HSE has powers to amend the terms and conditions under which a notified product can be supplied / used in GB or prohibit it from being supplied in GB. At each step in the supply chain the conditions of the notification must be complied with. If the product is changed in any way at a step in the supply chain this may not be covered by the notification eg adding a new trade name to the product label that is not covered by the notification. Enforcement action may be taken where a product is supplied that does not meet the conditions of the notification.

How to notify

The NI business or company acting on their behalf must submit, in English, a completed notification form to [email protected] – companies may wish to mark emails as appropriate eg confidential. Please note that your notification form may be returned if it is incomplete.

Only the notification form should be submitted by email. All other relevant documentation / data must be submitted via the HSE Secure File Sharing Service, including:

Using the HSE Secure File Sharing Service

Things to note

What HSE will do

After receiving your notification HSE will:

Where HSE identifies concerns, you may be asked to provide further information. When such requests are made, the indicative timeframe given above will be suspended:

Please note if you fail to provide the information within the specified deadline, your notification may be considered as withdrawn and the product cannot be made available on the GB market.

Unfettered access notification outcome

When the consideration of a notification is completed, HSE will choose whether it is appropriate:

Successful notifications

HSE will:

You should:

Unsuccessful notifications

HSE will not treat your biocidal product / biocidal product family as if it is authorised under GB BPR, and will prohibit it from being supplied in GB, where concerns are identified that cannot be addressed by amending the conditions of supply / use.

The notifier may have the opportunity to provide additional information where that is appropriate.

Updated 2021-07-19