The European Court of Justice will decide soon the question, whether a product which only indirectly affecting harmful organisms, is already as to classify biocide. “The procedure concerns the question whether the Algaecide means AlgoRem containing the active ingredient aluminum hydroxide chloride” is a biocidal product in the sense of the biocidal products Directive 98/8. The referring court, the regional court of Hamburg, would like to know in particular what kind of impact directly or indirectly on the harmful organism for which this policy is required required biological or chemical process. According to the national court, the product in question does not kill off the algae, but causes their Agglutination, which facilitates their mechanical removal from the water provided in the instructions for the product. The peculiarity of the product is thus that it does not directly chemically or biologically acts on the algae, but indirectly. As is the Hamburg district court unable, within the framework of his dispute raised questions about the interpretation and application of the European biocide directive to answer, clearly it has decided to stay the proceedings and present the question for a preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice, whether such an indirect effect is sufficient to classify a product as a biocidal product. Meanwhile, the opinion of the Advocate General responsible for the procedure exist already.

This reached to the conclusion that a direct chemical or biological impact of the product on the pest is not necessarily required to classify a product as a biocidal product. Rather, the term of the biocidal product is interpreted broadly. The advocate of General’s reasoning is however not very convincing, and it remains to be seen whether the ECJ follows the opinion. Should the Court an indirect effect for sufficient hold, then various manufacturers and distributors of indirectly-acting products are likely to have problems as they experience, their products as biocidal products in the Bring traffic. Applicable transitional periods, exacerbated the situation with the trace is for old agents”then requires each biocidal product of authorisation prior, whose obtaining is very expensive and time consuming. Other non-binding and free information related to the biocidal legislation, see