CBA welcomes post-Brexit biocide regulation agreement

The Chemical Business Association has welcomed the announcement that biocides are to be included within renewed EU-UK negotiations, calling it an important and practical step towards cutting red tape and restoring clarity for businesses.

Elaine McGavin, operations director at the CBA, explained that since the UK’s departure from the EU, companies had been required to navigate a separate UK biocides regime alongside the EU system established under the Biocidal Products Regulation. She noted this had created a dual regulatory system, increasing costs and administrative burdens for businesses trading across both markets.

McGavin also highlighted that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which leads on UK biocide regulation, had been managing a significant inherited workload — a situation that had contributed to delays in application processing, uncertainty around product approvals, and challenges in meeting deadlines.

Following the May 2025 EU-UK summit — where closer cooperation on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) products was agreed — biocides were formally brought into the scope of negotiations. The agreement, due to take effect mid-2027, would enable dynamic alignment between the UK and EU biocides regimes. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) subsequently launched a Call for Information to understand what guidance and support businesses would need to prepare for the changes.

McGavin described the development as a very welcome signal of a practical reset in how the UK and EU cooperate on essential regulatory frameworks. She argued that businesses had for too long been dealing with duplication, higher costs and avoidable uncertainty, and that bringing biocides into the negotiations recognised the need for a more workable system — one that would help reduce delays and support innovation without compromising on safety. She characterised it as a pragmatic and constructive step that industry had long been calling for.

Tim Doggett, CEO of the CBA, acknowledged the positive nature of the announcement but stressed that much more still needed to be done. He pointed out that businesses had for several years been operating within a fragmented, confusing and disjointed framework that had created unnecessary duplication, rising compliance costs and a persistent lack of clarity — a situation he described as unsustainable and not conducive to growth.

Doggett said the announcement must now lead to meaningful progress across the wider chemical supply chain, and called on government to break the inertia that had slowed regulatory development in recent years. He emphasised that industry required clear timelines and a regulatory framework that worked efficiently in practice, adding that while businesses had shown patience and resilience, what they now needed was pace, clarity and delivery.

For more information visit www.chemical.org.uk