Fieldfisher wins three EU contracts for the drafting of BPR guidance

At the end of August this year, the European Commission awarded Fieldfisher three contacts for the drafting of EU guidelines under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR).

EU Regulatory Bulletin contents

• Fieldfisher wins three EU contracts for the drafting of BPR guidance

• ECHA is consulting internally on guidance on Article 95 list of the BPR 

• Fieldfisher expresses a strong opinion on Article 58 (2) of REACH

• ECHA publishes guidance on chemical safety assessment

• ECHA publishes REACH and BPR data-sharing dispute decisions

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At the end of August this year, the European Commission awarded Fieldfisher three contacts for the drafting of EU guidelines under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). The guidance documents are intended to assist SMEs with practical advice on data sharing, consortiums and letters of access. 

Fieldfisher, led by partners Koen Van Maldegem and Claudio Mereu, submitted joint bids with CEFIC (the European Chemical Industry Council), UEAPME (the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) and AISE (the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products) for all three tenders.

The aims of the BPR are ambitious and will have a significant impact upon affected industries, SMEs in particular, which has already started to manifest itself. This is most obvious for the so-called ''existing active substances'' (that were on the market on 14 May 2000 and are part of the ongoing review programme initiated under the Biocidal Products Directive (BPD)). Recital 58 of the BPR states: ''a level playing field should be established [for] existing active substances, taking account the objectives of reducing unnecessary tests and costs to the minimum, in particular for SMEs, of avoiding the establishment of monopolies, of sustaining free competition, between economic operators and or equitable compensation of the costs borne by data owners''.

These aims are to be achieved by, amongst other things, the introduction of innovations; in other words, new rules on: letters of access, mandatory data sharing, and consortiums. The guidance are directly concerned with these tree innovations, and given the dearth of practical instructions for SMEs, they are sorely needed. The prestige of securing these tender contracts represents a boost for Fieldfisher over its rivals and reaffirms the biocides expertise in the Competition & EU Regulatory practice group.