European Commission promises to work harder and use more resources to control biocides
Encourages EU member states to follow suit
The European Commission has committed to a more vigorous implementation of the European Union’s (EU) biocidal products regulation (No. 528/2012), and is encouraging EU member states follow suit.
In a report on the sustainable use of biocides, the Commission stresses that they are 'essential for public health to help control food-borne diseases (such as salmonellosis, listeriosis) or hospital-acquired infections (such as MRSA)'.
Within the report, the Commission said it planned to 'focus and strengthen efforts on the review programme of existing active substances', to meet the regulation’s 2024 deadline. This would be 'the first and main priority', it said.
The Commission also pledged to ensure that once active substances are approved, 'product authorisations are granted, amended or cancelled within three years'.
More on best practice in the areas of hand hygiene, compliance, monitoring, room sterilisation and water treatment at the 2016 Infection Prevention and Containment ConferenceFind out more
Brussels also promised in the report to invest additional resources on enforcement. And it added that the authorisation process would write best practice guidance on specific biocides into controls, by integrating such advice into mandated conditions of use. By doing so, however, end users such as cleanrooms will gain legal liabilities to comply, because suppliers will have to sell biocides on condition that the end-user 'reads and correctly follows the recommendations given'.
The Commission said it would encourage communication and awareness-raising campaigns to inform end-users of existing biocidal product controls, through websites, in-store leaflets or videos, and quick response codes on biocidal products. And it would encourage the development and implementation of standards on the sustainable use of biocidal products, for example, through the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).
Brussels said it would encourage EU member states to follow these steps, concluding that 'member states will need to invest additional resources on enforcement activities to ensure that no product is illegally placed on their market and that biocidal products are properly labelled'.
