European Union: Consortia Formation And Cooperation For Biocidal Product Authorisation

On 23 February 2015, the European Commission released a number of so-called Practical Guides within the context of the Biocidal Products Regulation No 528/2012 (BPR), among which is the document entitled "Practical Guide on Consortia under the Biocidal Products Regulation No 528/2012", which is available as a working document at CIRCA BC.

Fieldfisher, with the assistance of Cefic, AISE and UEAPME, took the lead in drafting these Practical Guides following a successful invitation for tenders launched by the Commission in June 2014.

The Practical Guide on Consortia explains, e.g., the novel concepts of "biocidal product family" (BPF) and "same biocidal product" (SBP) introduced in the BPR (or in implementing legislation) aimed at facilitating the process of applying for product authorisations for companies (such as SMEs) and reducing cost and administration issues involved. Both the BPF and SBP encourage the coming together of like-minded companies to jointly develop a dossier and to make a joint application for authorisation of a BPF (which can be held by the consortium or a leading member), on the basis of which the products of individual companies could be authorised under the BPF, or individual companies could subsequently apply for own product authorisations (for example as a SBP).

Since our involvement in drafting the Practical Guide on Consortia, clients and other companies have contacted us and expressed an interest in setting up consortia and in making use of the economies of scale offered by the newly introduced BPF and SBP concepts and the expertise acquired by Fieldfisher in this respect.

We are now inviting companies (producers, formulators and distributors) with an interest to cooperate in a consortium for biocidal product authorisation (through a BPF, SBP or otherwise) to get in touch with us indicating the substance or biocidal product of interest. All communication will be confidential and used only for assessment of a sufficient interest in cooperation.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.