The UK Health and Safety Executive, as designated national authority for the GB PIC Regulation, has updated the GB PIC list with changes applying from 28 August 2026. The update adds persistent organic pollutants, pesticides and a wide range of mercury-containing products.
What the GB PIC List Update Adds
Part 3 (prior informed consent) adds industrial decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) and PFOA, its salts and related compounds, plus the pesticides terbufos and carbosulfan and ultra-low-volume fenthion formulations. Part 4 (export bans for Stockholm Convention POPs) adds dicofol, pentachlorophenol, PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, methoxychlor and decaBDE, and deletes the group entry for articles containing bromodiphenyl ethers.
Part 5 (export bans under the GB Mercury Regulation) adds compact fluorescent lamps, cold-cathode and external-electrode fluorescent lamps, batteries containing more than 0.0005% mercury by weight, switches and relays, cosmetics, pesticides and biocides, certain measuring devices, and other products such as mercury vacuum pumps and photographic film and paper.
What’s New
- Part 3 chemicals may not be exported without the consent of the importing country.
- Part 4 and Part 5 items are subject to export bans, except where specific exemptions or derogations apply (for example under Article 4 or Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 for POPs).
- Mercury exemptions cover products essential for civil protection or military uses, products for research or calibration, and certain switches, relays and lamps used to replace components of larger equipment where no feasible mercury-free alternative exists.
- decaBDE and PFOA are added to Part 1 because the POPs Regulation severely restricts them for all industrial use.
Key Dates & Timeline
Who and What Is in Scope
Industries: Automotive components · Electrical and electronic equipment · Batteries · Lighting · Chemicals and materials
Who is affected: Exporters from Great Britain of listed chemicals and mercury-containing products, including battery, lighting, switch and relay suppliers and chemical distributors.
Products and standards in scope: Parts 1, 3, 4 and 5 of the GB PIC list, covering decaBDE, PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, dicofol, pentachlorophenol, methoxychlor, certain pesticides and mercury-added products.
Requirements and restrictions: Export bans for Part 4 POPs and Part 5 mercury products, with limited exemptions; importing-country consent for Part 3 chemicals; mercury-added batteries are caught above 0.0005% mercury by weight.
What Companies Should Do
- Check your export catalogue against the new Part 3, 4 and 5 entries.
- Confirm whether any exemption applies before shipping mercury-containing components or replacement parts.
- Update export compliance screening lists for GB shipments.
The GB export-control lists now reach a wider set of POPs and mercury-added products. Exporters should screen shipments against the new entries from 28 August 2026.
Related: EU strengthens PFOS limits in the POPs Regulation | Long-Chain PFCAs Added to POPs Regulation
HSE — Changes to the GB PIC list — https://www.hse.gov.uk/pic/assets/docs/changes-to-the-GB-PIC-list.pdf
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