Companies go to court over EU biocide changes
Date:05-30-2008
A group of companies is seeking legal action against a European Commission update of the EU biocidal products Directive (98/8) on the grounds that it provides for unfair competition. The companies, including Sumitomo Chemical's UK subsidiary and UK-based Arch Timber Protection(Castleford, West Yorkshire), a subsidiary of US firm Arch Chemicals, have asked the EU Court of First Instance to partially annul the amended rules for the review of existing biocide active ingredients, which were issued as Regulation 1451/2007 last December.
The applicants claim that some of the new measures are illegal and violate the basic rights provided by Directive 98/8, particularly with regard to the exclusive right of use and data protection for companies supporting ais through the review. These rights are violated because the measures do not require EU member states to cancel biocide product registrations held by competing companies that are not participating in the review and have no access to the data, the lawsuit says. Such companies have a competitive advantage because they do not bear the costs of re-registering ais but can keep their products containing these ais on the market, it adds.
The Commission has misused its powers by "deliberately implementing the BPD [biocidal products Directive] in a way which goes beyond the text of it and upsets the applicants' rights and expectations", the lawsuit alleges. Directive 98/8 covers a wide range of substances, including non-crop pesticides.
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