Limitation of biocides (antibacterial substances)

Self-declaration based on technical documentation

If the requirement has been verified with a self-declaration based on documentation, first take samples of delivered products and check that there is no label that describes treatment with biocidal products¹. If there is such a label, the requirement is not met.

If the products do not have a label describing treatment with biocidal products, request information² about the product from the supplier and check that there is no information describing treatment with biocidal products. If there is such information, the product does not meet the requirement.

For the requirement to be met, the product shall lack information about biocide treatment, both on the label/marking and in the product information.

¹Biocidal treated articles shall be labeled in accordance with the Biocide Products Regulation. More information is available on the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s website.

²The information may, for example, consist of product sheets, marketing materials or similar. If a product has been treated with biocides, there shall be information containing the name of the added biocide that may be in the product.

Self-declaration verified by an accredited verification body

If the requirement has been verified through a self-declaration, request the company's self-declaration of compliance with the requirements, including technical documentation, verified by a verification body accredited for the task according to ISO/IEC 17029 or an equivalent standard.

Please note that during follow-up, a test protocol is not required to show that the requirement is met. See more information under "Proposed follow-up", under the tab "Criterion text”.

A product that is marketed as having been treated with biocides, such as antibacterial agents, shall be labelled as such according to Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products (the Biocides Regulation). Information shall be made available even if the supplier does not market the product as having been treated with biocides, according to Article 58 of the same regulation. Upon request, the supplier of the product must be able to provide information about any biocide treatment within 45 days, even if the product is not marketed to consumers as having been treated with biocides, according to the Biocides Regulation. It is thus possible to demand information from the supplier. More information about biocidal treated articles is available on the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s website.

There are currently a limited number of accredited verification bodies according to ISO / IEC 17029 (Conformity assessment - General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies), as it is a relatively new standard. However, this may change, especially if the demand for verifying compliance in this way increases.  More information about the standard and accredited verification bodies can be found on Swedac's website.

The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.