On 25th November 2025, regulations were laid in Parliament to change the data protection end date in Article 95(5) of the GB Biocidal Products Regulation (GB BPR) to 31st December 2030.
The regulatory data protection period for active substances still undergoing their first review has been increased by 5 years, from 31 December 2025 to 31 December 2030. This realigns the data protection with the current estimate end of the review program in GB.
Therefore, data submitted for the first time in support of an active substance in the GB Review Programme is protected until either:
- 10 years from the first day of the month following the date of approval or inclusion onto the GB Simplified Active Substance List
- 31 December 2030
This Regulation will come into force on 30th December 2025, subject to successful completion of Parliamentary processes.
This Regulation also makes minor technical changes to ensure Article 95(5) works as intended and updates references to obsolete legislation.
What Does this Mean for Industry?
This means for companies who already support active substance product dossiers (data owners) in GB, they can continue to benefit from the initial data being protected, with the extension of this protection period. Any companies wanting to use the GB active substance data for their dossiers will require a Letter of Access to support their own applications.
However, the introduction of this protection period in GB will create further divergence with the EU BPR legislation, which currently stipulates that the data protection period for existing active substances will end on the 31st December 2025 (Article 95 (5) of Regulation 528/2012). ECHA are yet to announce any extension to this deadline for the EU review programme.
Companies who support active substance dossiers in both GB and EU will need to consider the impact of the divergence between these legislations on their associated active substance and biocidal product dossiers.
If you need support with any biocide regulatory matters, call or email and speak directly with one of our biocide regulatory consultants.
