Biocidal products in agriculture and horticulture

In agriculture and horticulture, biocidal products are used alongside plant protection products for purposes such as disinfecting benches, containers, pots or knives. It is not always clear whether such 'borderline' uses fall under the regulations for biocidal products or plant protection products. The vast majority of these disinfectants are still authorised as biocidal products under transitional legislation in the Netherlands. The active substances in these products are not approved under the Plant Protection Regulation, so they cannot be authorised as plant protection products.

A new, EU-wide description of the borderline between biocidal products and plant protection products has enabled the continued use of these disinfectants in agriculture and horticulture, even if they are authorised in the future only under the Biocidal Products Regulation. Consequently, most of the disinfectants now being used on farms and in greenhouses will continue to be available.

The EU-wide description is included in version 71 of the Working document Scope and borderline issues of Regulation 1107/2009, published on 7 October 2022. Under the new agreements, the dossier that is submitted with the application determines which legislation is in force. If the efficacy dossier contains studies with plant pathogens, then the application falls under the Plant Protection Regulation. If it only contains studies on uses of biocidal products, it falls under the Biocidal Products Regulation. The claim is also important here. But in case of doubt, then the intention with which a product is marketed determines which legislation is in force, not the claim. For example, if the biocidal product in an application is intended to be used on a crop, with a claim to protect the farmer or grower from infection with a virus or bacteria, then the application will not be accepted as a biocidal product application. This is because the intent of the use described in the application is disinfection of a crop, which makes it a plant protection product.

Since the end of November 2022, the Ctgb has followed the new European agreement to determine the borderline between plant protection products and biocidal products, which has immediately repealed the previous policy in the Netherlands for biocidal products with uses in plant protection.