EU biocides regulation agreed
Expected to become law in September 2013
Agreement has been secured at the European Parliament over a long-debated new European Union (EU) biocides regulation, which is designed to hasten approvals and assessments of these key cleanroom chemicals.
MEPs have formally approved the new regulation, whose final text had been negotiated in advance with the EU Council of Ministers, which is now expected to rubber stamp the law.
The regulation replaces an earlier directive, also designed to assess and approve biocides, but whose procedures have become protracted – with the deadline for studies being pushed back to 2013, which is when the new, supposedly more simple, regulation will come into force (on 1 September).
The regulation will use the expertise of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to speed up assessments for biocides, which will be sent to the European Commission (EC) for EU sales permission rulings.
The parliament’s vote was welcomed by EU environment commissioner Janez Potočnik as “another step towards ensuring that only safe products are made available and that the most dangerous substances are kept out of our market”.
Meanwhile, the EC has extended a separate sales ban on products containing the biocide dimethylfumarate (DMFu) until 15 March 2013, or until a proposed restriction under EU chemical control system REACH comes into force.
The EC also proposes to add three biocides to the list of 33 pollutants that are monitored and controlled in EU rivers, lakes and coastal waters, under a tabled amendment. The biocidal substances concerned are cybutryne, dichlorvos, and terbutryn.