Opportunities for new EU market parties to disrupt the biocides market in Europe  

Costly study data submitted on existing active substance will no longer be protected even though the Review Programme for the evaluation of those active substances is only scheduled to be concluded by the end of 2030. 

This implies that from 1^st of January 2026, companies (from outside and within the EU)  that want to enter the EU market (via BPR Art 95 listing) can do so without having to pay a compensation to the companies that developed (expensive!) BPR required study data.  

Only 50% of all active substance/Product Type combinations have been approved under EU BPR till date. This opens up the remaining half for “free-riding” until the evaluation (and EU BPR (non-)approval) is complete. To our current state of knowledge this situation might last until the extended deadline of the Review Programme of 31^st of December 2030 (or longer in case the European Commission decides upon another extension). 

Unpredictability – a hurdle for industry

The expectation is that this free-riding will grossly disrupt the EU market for at least five years. With these kind of commercial disruptions, companies will probably wait until the dust has settled and they know what active substance/PT combinations continue to be a valid business case beyond 2030.  

As industry and authorities continue to struggle with the new Review Programme deadlines (in particular for submission of data on endocrine disrupting properties that must be submitted by 31 December 2026), companies will also be reviewing progress under the BPR REFIT to see to what extent this revision can address the significant challenges under the BPR. 

There is additional impact of the (updated) harmonized classification and labelling under EU CLP (also recently revised) that leads to more actives being considered a Candidate for Substitution. This will further limit the number of available biocidal actives to support safe and sustainable use of everyday products that require preservation (e.g. paints, coatings, detergents, cosmetics, etc.), as well as disinfectants, pest control products and anti-fouling systems.  

Impact on biocides innovation 

We expect further limitations in investment in biocide R&D and potentially a ‘hard stop’ for innovation of biocides (including more sustainable and safe new active substances). Not only because of the hard stop in data protection, but also due to other contributing factors like the current general instability of the markets, uncertainty of chemical industry in Europe and, more specifically, the already challenging market conditions for biocide companies in Europe.

With these challenges, it cannot come as a surprise if this results in a strongly reduced availability of biocidal active substances and also limits the total number of biocidal products (leading to increased prices) from 2030 onwards.  

This will have an impact on biocide pricing and, to finish with a positive note for biocide companies, will biocides make high-end, expensive and sought after chemical specialties. 

How hard is the ‘hard stop’?

The 31st December 2025 deadline is a provision of the BPR in its current form. The Commission is not empowered to modify the provisions related to data protection in Article 95(5) by a Delegated Act. All the provisions related to data protection will be examined together with the entire legislation on biocidal products in a REFIT evaluation, which the Commission intends to conduct
in the coming years. In a previous CA meeting the Commission explained that the REFIT work is to be concluded by the end of 2026. These were the original plans which may (have) evolve(d). In fact, we learnt recently that possible changes to data protection are currently being discussed.  More details will be shared once available.

If you want to know more about how the data protection ‘hard stop’ will impact your organization (or how your company can benefit from it!), please do contact us. Our OAQ-tool contains a great overview of a.s./PT combinations that might be the right investment to give your business a competitive advantage!