Sections 10 to 12 ChemBiozidDV: which biocidal products may not sit on an open shelf, who may hand them over, and what has to happen online before the contract is concluded

Two tiers, not one

In practice the self-service ban is treated as a single prohibition. The ordinance sets out two tiers with different consequences, and collapsing them means securing either too much or too little.

The first tier is in Section 10 Para. 1 ChemBiozidDV: „Folgende Biozid-Produkte dürfen nur in einer Form angeboten und abgegeben werden, in der der Käufer keinen freien Zugriff auf das Biozid-Produkt hat“. Number 1 covers every biocidal product whose authorisation labelling does not permit one or more uses by the general public. Number 2 covers, independently of that, three product types under Annex V of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012: product type 14 rodenticides, product type 18 insecticides, acaricides and products to control other arthropods, and product type 21 antifouling products.

The second tier is in Section 10 Para. 2 ChemBiozidDV and is weaker. It covers product types 7 film preservatives, 8 wood preservatives and 10 construction material preservatives. Here the open shelf remains permissible, but organisational measures must ensure that before the contract of sale is concluded a handover consultation takes place with a person meeting the requirements of Section 13.

Two exceptions that are easily missed

Section 10 Para. 3 ChemBiozidDV carves out two cases. First, Paragraphs 1 and 2 do not apply to biocidal products authorised under the simplified authorisation procedure of Article 25 of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012. Second, the consultation under Paragraph 2 is not required where the supplying person knows, or the purchaser makes credible by producing suitable documents, „dass die Anwendung des Biozid-Produkts in Ausübung der beruflichen Tätigkeit des Erwerbers erfolgt“.

The second exception reaches less far than it looks: it relieves from the consultation under Paragraph 2, not from the self-service ban under Paragraph 1 and not from the competence requirement in Section 11 Para. 1. A specialist trade selling exclusively to businesses is therefore relieved for the wood preservative and not for the rodenticide.

Handover attaches to a person, not to the business

Section 11 Para. 1 ChemBiozidDV reads: „Biozid-Produkte nach § 10 Absatz 1 dürfen nur von einer im Betrieb beschäftigten Person abgegeben werden, die die Anforderungen an die Sachkunde nach § 13 erfüllt.“ Two elements of that sentence govern the organisation. „Im Betrieb beschäftigten“, employed in the business, rules out contracting the task to an external provider; the person has to belong to the business. „Person“ means that a company permit or a corporate certificate does not replace the individual evidence.

Section 13 Para. 1 ChemBiozidDV does not define competence itself; it refers out three times. A person is competent who meets the requirements of Section 11 Para. 1 nos. 1 and 2 of the Chemicals Prohibition Ordinance, provided the competence also covers the supply of biocidal products; or of Section 9 Para. 1 no. 4 of the Plant Protection Act together with the Plant Protection Competence Ordinance, provided attendance at a refresher course under Section 11 Para. 1 no. 2 ChemVerbotsV conveying knowledge of biocidal products is evidenced; or of Section 15c Para. 3 together with Annex I no. 4.4 of the Hazardous Substances Ordinance, provided the competence relates to the product type of the product supplied.

Online sales: three phrases decide the shop process

Section 12 ChemBiozidDV carries the duties into distance selling. Where supply takes place in online trade or otherwise by mail order, Sections 10 Para. 2 and 11 Para. 2 apply with the proviso that technical or organisational measures must ensure that before the contract of sale is concluded, first, compliance with the conditions of Section 11 Para. 2 no. 1 „durch eine nach § 13 sachkundige Person überprüft wird“, and second, „ein fernmündliches oder ein per Videoübertragung geführtes Abgabegespräch nach § 11 Absatz 2 Nummer 2 durch eine nach § 13 sachkundige Person nachweisbar erfolgt“.

• „Before the contract of sale is concluded“: a call-back after the buy button is too late. The order process has to hold the conclusion of the contract until after the consultation.
• „By a person qualified under Section 13“: a service centre without documented competence does not satisfy the provision, even if somebody there makes the call.
• „In a way that can be evidenced“: the consultation has to be recorded. Having taken place is not enough once the surveillance authority asks.

Separately, Section 3 Para. 2 ChemBiozidDV provides that biocidal products subject to the transitional rule in Section 28 Para. 8 sentence 1 ChemG may be offered in online trade or otherwise for dispatch only if the offer contains the registration number. That concerns the product page rather than the checkout, and it is the first thing to be noticed in a market inspection because it is visible without a test purchase.

The level of the fine is not in the biocide ordinance

Anyone looking for the sanction finds in Section 17 ChemBiozidDV only the classification, not the amount. Section 17 Para. 1 provides that whoever, intentionally or negligently, supplies a biocidal product contrary to Section 9 sentence 1, Section 10 Para. 1 or Section 11 Para. 1 commits an administrative offence within the meaning of Section 26 Para. 1 no. 7 letter b ChemG, as does whoever supplies contrary to Section 10 Para. 2 or Section 11 Para. 2, in each case also in conjunction with Section 12. Only Section 26 Para. 3 ChemG states the amount, and it states three different ones.

The spread from EUR 10,000 to EUR 200,000 inside one regime is why any sentence about „the fine“ in German biocide law is wrong. It follows from the enumeration in Section 26 Para. 3 ChemG: no. 7 letter b sits in the first group, no. 8 letter b in the second, and no. 10a appears in neither and therefore falls into the residual tier.

What a business takes from this

1. 1Map every biocidal product carried to its product type under Annex V of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 and set the user category from the authorisation beside it. Without that list none of the three provisions can be applied.
2. 2Settle per site who hands over, and keep the evidence under Section 13 ChemBiozidDV for that person, including the refresher status under Section 11 Para. 1 no. 2 ChemVerbotsV.
3. 3Check the shelf layout against Section 10 Para. 1 and Para. 2 and document the two tiers separately.
4. 4In the shop, place the conclusion of the contract behind the check and the consultation, and record both, because Section 12 ChemBiozidDV requires that they can be evidenced.
5. 5Put the registration number on the product page where Section 3 Para. 2 ChemBiozidDV applies.

None of these duties attaches to an employee count. Neither the Biocidal Products Implementing Ordinance nor Section 15c GefStoffV names a threshold; they attach to the product and to the activity. A specialist retailer with four employees carrying rodenticides needs the same qualified person as a retail chain.