EU Biocide Laws Challenge China's Exports

Last September 1st, EU biocide legislation (BPR) formally implemented to replace the old directive (BPD) to monitor products such as preservatives, insecticides, acarides and disinfectants. For China's health and pesticide related production and export enterprises, the export of products to the European Union will face new challenges.

According to ECHA official news, BPR has received over 1000 biotech products related applications over the past 5 months, most of which are authorized by the national biocide products.

Wan Baiyu, manager of agricultural products and health products project Department of Hangzhou Ruixu Product Technology Co., Ltd., in an interview with our reporter, said that the scope of EU biocide supervision includes pesticides, disinfectants, antibacterial and bacteriostatic products, preservatives and repellents. It involves a wide range of industries, such as agricultural insecticides, insecticides for public health, antibacterial agents in the industrial field, textile finishing agents, etc. In addition, the regulations will also greatly affect downstream products of these industries, such as kitchenware, furniture, ceramics, electronics, paint, coatings, textiles, carpets and building materials.

There are many bacteria in the mouse and keyboard after long term use. In order to control the growth of bacteria, bona fide manufacturers will add various antibacterial agents in clinker. Some skin sensitive people will be allergic to using mouse and keyboard. On the one hand, they are caused by a large number of bacteria and fungi, on the other hand, they are caused by irrational use of these antibacterial agents. Wan Baiyu told reporters that antibacterial agents and preservatives in the European Union also belong to biocides, such as carbendazim, pyrethrin, kasone and other products will be added to plastic, textiles, wood furniture, paint, play the role of antibacterial and antiseptic, but unreasonable use will have an impact on human health.

It is understood that Biocide The extensive use will also have a great impact on the environment. Many pesticides are banned in China, such as 666, DDT, and poisoned. Many insecticides are also restricted, such as fenvalerate not used in tea plants. These pesticides are managed in accordance with pesticide products in China, and most of the consumers are familiar with the harmfulness of these historical pesticide products to the environment.

"After the implementation of the EU biocide regulations, the cost of the licensing of active substances and the authorization of biocide products is extremely expensive, which is, on the other hand, a major technical barrier to the EU." Wan Baiyu said some of China's chemical companies export the active ingredients of some biological insecticides. After the new regulations are updated, the burden of these export companies will increase and the profits will shrink greatly. Moreover, China's export enterprises are more influential. Due to the fact that antimicrobial agents and preservatives are used in many materials nowadays, these industries need to make some reasonable adjustments according to the regulations.

The regulation of biocides in China is based on the characteristics of the system. For example, disinfectants in biocides are divided into disinfectant products, disinfectants for animals and disinfectants for food. For example, pesticides are being supervised in China as a pesticide.

Wan Baiyu said that at present, there are no uniform regulations on the use of preservatives and antibacterial agents in China. The cost of certain antibacterial agents in European regulations may be RMB tens of millions of yuan, while in China, they can be widely used without any administrative licensing procedures. Wan Baiyu hopes that relevant departments in China will effectively supervise the biocide products for industrial use, because these products will be abused without supervision, which will have a huge impact on the environment and population health.

Previously, the BPD directive was only the guiding document of the European Union, and each member state could formulate its own national laws and regulations according to this directive. Under such circumstances, the severity of the regulations is uneven in various countries, and also brings many compliance problems to EU enterprises. The BPR regulation is the European Union's mandatory regulations, which, like the REACH regulations, are uniformly regulated and implemented at the EU level. So, how should our enterprises deal with BPR? Hangzhou Rui Xu suggests. Chinese Enterprises Should be combined with the company's own situation, make compliance files, apply for active substances licensing or product licensing, in order to successfully pass the technical barriers to trade.