What is a biocidal product?
A biocidal product is a product with an active substance that is intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, prevent the action of, or otherwise exert a controlling effect on harmful or undesired organisms. The active substance in a biocidal product can be a so-called natural oil or extract, a chemical substance or a microorganism, virus or fungus.
If the effect of a product is purely physical, then it is not a biocidal product.
Examples of biocidal products include wood preservatives, antifouling paints, disinfectants, preservatives for aqueous products, fungal or anti-microbial products, insecticides, and animal repellents or baits.
There are 22 product types (PT) of biocidal products. Not all 22 product types are defended for each active substance by the industry. See the list of active substances defended in Europe. This list contains the active substances and the corresponding product types for which the industry has submitted a dossier (or is going to submit a dossier) in one of the European Member States with the intention of including the active substance-PT combination on the Union list of approved substances of the Biocidal Products Regulation (528/2012).
Only biocidal products with substance-PT combinations that are included on the Union list are eligible for authorisation. Biocidal products with a substance-PT combination that is not included on this list may not be placed on the market in the EU (therefore not in the Netherlands). Neither can a notification be made for such a biocidal product.
A description of the 22 product types can be found on the ECHA website.
Biocides are added to many products. These can be used to maintain the quality of products (for example a preservative in a water-based paint). Generally speaking, such a product is not a biocidal product itself, but the added preservative is a biocidal product. That preservative requires an authorisation if it is marketed or used in the Netherlands (in this case, use is defined as: adding the preservative to the product that is to be preserved).
A biocidal substance can also be added to a product to make the product itself into a biocidal product. For example, this is the case with a fungicidal paint. Sufficient quantities of an active substance are added to the paint so the paint itself becomes fungicidal. It can then be used to prevent fungal growth on a painted surface. In that case, the paint itself is a biocidal product which requires an authorisation.