On 23 September 2014, the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) issued a Practical Guide on the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). The document consists of the following chapters: approval of active substance; Article 95: list of active substances and suppliers; technical equivalence; national authorisation; mutual recognition; renewal of national authorisation and authorisations subject to mutual recognition; Union authorisation; simplified authorisation; changes of biocidal products; data sharing; appeals (on ECHA decisions). Additional sections on renewal and review of approval of active substance, as well as research and development are expected to be published at the end of October 2014.
The Practical guidance is aimed at helping companies in better fulfilling their tasks and obligations under the BPR. For that purpose, the document is structured in parts describing who is concerned by the different obligations; what the principles behind each obligation are; what the relevant timelines and deadlines are, the fees for each obligation, the information to be requested, the procedure to follow, and finally the expected results of the whole process. In addition, the guide emphasizes the exceptions and the particular situations associated with some of the processes.
The complete text of the Practical Guide is available on ECHA's website.
