In Europe wood preservatives belong to Product Type 8 (PT8) of the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR, EU n. 528/2012), which regulates the authorisation of biocidal active substances and products in the European market. The applicant, who aims to obtain authorization to place a product onto the European market, needs to submit data to substantiate the label claims for the intended uses. Label claims are a central issue in the assessment of efficacy. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the recently issued “Guidance on the Biocidal Products Regulation” concerning the evaluation of efficacy of wood preservatives. This guidance document is addressed to the applicants as well as to the competent authorities of the member states of Europe in charge of assessing efficacy data, and has been in the public domain, in its latest version, since February 2017. The CEN/Technical Committee 38 “Durability of wood and wood based products” / WG 22 "Performance, assessment and specification” decided to bring the Guidance to a wider audience with the aim of disseminating the information and to trigger discussion among the experts of IRGWP. An excerpt of the Guidance that is relevant to wood preservative products is presented in an Annex to this paper.

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