The UK is experiencing a decline in the availability of active substances, which raises both risks and opportunities for the biocides and chemicals sector. Across the EU and UK, the number of approved actives has been shrinking, with certain product types (PTs) impacted more severely than others. This trend is driven by high costs and investment requirements, evolving regulatory obligations such as endocrine disruptor (ED) criteria, and tight timelines for compliance. The impact is significant: reduced biocidal product (BP) availability, potential gaps in market coverage, and challenges to resistance management strategies that are critical for meeting sustainability goals (SDGs). These pressures could also affect essential functions in public health and industry. For companies, this situation demands proactive measures. Opportunities exist to mitigate risk through regulatory monitoring, horizon scanning of product portfolios, and active participation in public consultations to influence decisions and provide information on alternatives. Collaboration within the industry may also open pathways to share costs and maintain market access. Ultimately, the response depends on each stakeholder\u2019s role in the supply chain, but staying informed and engaged is key to turning this challenge into a strategic advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naomi Young, Senior Regulatory Consultant Biocides, Apeiron<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The UK is experiencing a decline in the availability of active substances, which raises both risks and opportunities for the biocides and chemicals sector. Across the EU and UK, the number of approved actives has been shrinking, with certain product types (PTs) impacted more severely than others. This trend is driven by high costs and investment requirements, evolving regulatory obligations such as endocrine disruptor (ED) criteria, and tight timelines for compliance. The impact is significant: reduced biocidal product (BP) availability, potential gaps in market coverage, and challenges to resistance management strategies that are critical for meeting sustainability goals (SDGs). These pressures could also affect essential functions in public health and industry. For companies, this situation demands proactive measures. Opportunities exist to mitigate risk through regulatory monitoring, horizon scanning of product portfolios, and active participation in public consultations to influence decisions and provide information on alternatives. Collaboration within the industry may also open pathways to share costs and maintain market access. Ultimately, the response depends on each stakeholder\u2019s role in the supply chain, but staying informed and engaged is key to turning this challenge into a strategic advantage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Naomi has a multi-disciplinary background and a combined experience of over 15 years in the fields of biochemistry, biocides, product safety, plant protection products, detergents, and consumer products. Naomi is skilled in leading programmes and managing complex product stewardship and regulatory strategies covering areas such as global FMCG ingredient safety and sustainability programmes, managing the biocidal product and active substance portfolio for the EU-arm of a Global chemical company, through to oversight, management and coordination of regulatory submission of a global, politically intricate herbicide renewal dossier. Naomi has substantiated familiarity working in the EU and US, representing industry to regulatory and government authorities, in industry groups and leading working groups.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_activity_time_start":"","_activity_time_end":"","_activity_date":"","_activity_price":"0","footnotes":""},"edition":[39],"location":[],"track":[],"activity_type":[],"class_list":["post-13167","activity","type-activity","status-publish","hentry","edition-chemuk-2026"],"_guests":[],"_sponsors":[],"_cover_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity\/13167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/activity"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity\/13167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13172,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity\/13167\/revisions\/13172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/edition?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"track","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/track?post=13167"},{"taxonomy":"activity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chemicalukexpo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/activity_type?post=13167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}