Copy of presentations by the PRCD at the Dublin Biocides Symposium, Ireland
Copy of presentations by the PRCD at the Dublin Biocides Symposium, Ireland
The Pesticide Registration and Control Division (PRCD) in Ireland held an excellent Industry Symposium on Biocidal Products in March 2020, which included a mini-workshop to explain the biocide notification process, requirements and common pitfalls to avoid. The presentations from this Symposium are still available on the PRCD website and are a valuable resource for applicants, see https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/biocides/biocidalproducts/prcdindustrysymposiumonbiocidalproducts2020/
On 23-24 March 2021, Kerona Scientific hosted a two-day virtual Biocides Symposium, with contributions from the PRCD in Ireland. Donal Lynch, the head of Biocide Registrations at the PRCD, opened the symposium with a presentation that explained in a very clear manner how the EU biocide regulations developed historically and how, in parallel, the Irish department of agriculture adapted to these changes internally with increased specialist resources to meet the growing workload. It was shown how the EU went from local national rules in every country to a unified Regulation, and how in the future the biocide industry will face emerging challenges such as transparency regulations, legislation on food contact materials and new guidance documents on risk assessments for bees. Within just over 20 years, the number of biocide products on the Irish market has grown from 0 to 4,100 and in the last year alone the PRCD processed over 1000 applications (of course the COVID-19 pandemic did have a bearing on the number of applications, as many applications for hand sanitisers and surface disinfectants were processed).
The final presentation of the two-day symposium was given by Dr Mary Canty, a biocide assessor and enforcement officer with the PRCD. Mary spoke about an area that concerns many manufacturers and suppliers of biocidal products, the enforcement of the rules. In her presentation Mary pointed out the various legislations around the BPR relating to enforcement, and what it means for the Member States to monitor the placement on the market of biocidal products. In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic it was shown several times what consequences companies can face if they don’t comply with the regulations, which can ultimately lead to products being withdrawn from the market and negative public attention for a company.
Once again we would like to thank Donal and Mary for their time and excellent presentations, copies of which are freely available on the Kerona website at https://www.kerona.ie/product/dublin-biocides-symposium-2021-prcd-presentations/
A full copy of the presentations from the Dublin Biocide Symposium is also available on the Kerona website.
If you have any queries relating to the registration of biocides in the EU, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the Kerona biocide team at info@kerona.ie, or telephone +353 1 8494284.