Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans the Government has to review the regulation of sales of hand sanitiser products to (a) help ensure they are (i) safe and (ii) effective and (b) tackle price gouging of those products.

The EU Biocidal Products Regulation 528/2012 (BPR) has applied since 2013. In line with the EU Exit Withdrawal Agreement, the BPR is being retained with changes to reflect the position at the end of the Transition Period. This process does not allow the UK to make policy changes. Thus, there are no current plans to review the procedures within the UK biocides legislation. HSE has no evidence that the current regulatory approach is ineffective.

BPR requires that all the active substances used in hand sanitiser products are reviewed for their safety, both to people and the wider environment. Only products containing active substances that are undergoing that review process are allowed to be marketed.

Once the review of an active substance has been completed and the active is approved as being suitable to continue being used, each product containing that substance is then assessed, both for safety and for efficacy. While the review of an active substance is ongoing, products containing that substance can continue to be marketed subject to the requirements of general legislation relating to product safety and the supply of chemicals.

The BPR does not regulate the price of hand sanitiser products.

There are no current plans to review the regulation of sales of hand sanitiser products.