The German federal government has enacted a nationwide regulation prohibiting the self-service sale of many types of biocidal goods beginning 1st January 2025 to guarantee that customers are aware of any potential hazards associated with using the goods.

Major affected products:

• Insecticides

• Wood preservatives

On 12th May 2021, the government adopted an Ordinance to revise current national biocidal laws which would supplement the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). Proposed by the federal environment ministry (BMU) in 2020, the new law will prohibit the self-service sale of

• rodenticides (PT 14)

• insecticides (PT 18)

• wood preservatives (PT 8) (PT-Product type)

• antifouling products (PT 21)

• construction material preservatives (PT 10)

Consumers will only be able to obtain these items from Specialists who must first educate them on the risks of using biocides.

The regulations also apply to online and mail-order sales. Retailers may only send things after a consultation by either phone or video call with the buyer.

The self-service ban will not apply to biocidal products that are eligible for the simplified authorization procedure under the BPR because these do not contain any substances of concern.

According to the BMU, this is the first time Germany has taken steps to restrict the distribution of biocidal chemicals. Svenja Schulze, federal environment minister stated that the goal is to establish "The conscious handling of biocidal products and prevent their unnecessary use often"

The Ordinance also mandates producers and distributors to submit statistics on biocidal product sales. This is a crucial step toward more transparency in the industry according to NGO PAN (Pesticides Action Network) Germany which applauded the government & supports the new rule since biocides law still has a lot more catching up to do with pesticides law.

“We hope that merchants would opt to implement this customer-friendly service by 2025 and we expect the authorities to publish an annual overview of domestic sales of biocides that is accurate to kilogram. "When utilizing biocides, this is the only means to determine the effectiveness or failure of appropriate mitigating measures".

Before the Ordinance may be legally implemented, the German Federal Council must approve it. A vote is planned for a plenary session on 25th June 2021.

Reference: https://www.bmu.de/pressemitteilung/bundesregierung-beschliesst-strengere-regeln-fuer-die-abgabe-von-chemikalien-zur-schaedlingsbekaempfung/