First public consultation on a biocidal active substance launched

Helsinki, Finland -- The first public consultation under the Biocidal Products Regulation will be on the active substance dinotefuran as a potential candidate for substitution. The consultation is open until 28 January 2014.

In Article 10 of the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR), the concept of active substances which are candidates for substitution is introduced, including criteria for the identification of such substances. During the approval process of an active substance, the evaluating competent authority will assess whether the substance meets these criteria, and is thereby a potential candidate for substitution. The competent authority will then report this information in the conclusions of their evaluation. In such cases, ECHA will initiate a public consultation during which third parties can submit relevant information, including information on available alternatives.

When an active substance is a candidate for substitution, biocidal products containing that active substance will become subject to a comparative assessment at the time of authorisation and will only be authorised if there are no better alternatives.

When a public consultation is launched, a new entry will appear in the dedicated ECHA web page. Third parties will have 60 days to submit information using the templates provided.

The first public consultation is now launched by ECHA for the new active substance dinotefuran, which is proposed to be used in biocidal products of product-type 18 (insecticides, acaricides and products to control other arthropods). The information received, if not confidential, will be published during the public consultation.

When the consultation period is over, ECHA will process the information received. The Agency will take account of the information when finalising the opinion on dinotefuran in the Biocidal Products Committee.

Further information is available on the European Chemical Agency website here.