Brussels bans exports of carbendazim, metribuzin and six more pesticides

The European Commission has moved eight pesticide active substances onto the prior informed consent (PIC) lists that give effect to the Rotterdam Convention in EU law, effectively banning their export from and import into the Union. The change is made by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1278, adopted on 9 June 2026 and published in the L series of the Official Journal of the European Union on 12 August 2026. The new rules apply from 1 October 2026.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1278 amends and corrects Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 on the export and import of hazardous chemicals, the EU instrument implementing the Rotterdam Convention’s prior informed consent procedure. Under that procedure, a chemical placed on the PIC lists can only be shipped with the explicit consent of the receiving country, which in practice closes the trade route for the substances concerned. Signed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, the regulation enters into force on 1 September 2026, the twentieth day after publication, and applies from 1 October 2026.

Eight pesticides added to the PIC lists

Carbendazim and metribuzin join six further substances withdrawn from EU approval processes in the lists set out in Parts 1 and 2 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 649/2012:

• carbendazim, already banned as a plant protection product, after industry withdrew it from the biocides approval process under Regulation (EU) No 528/2012, banning it from all pesticide uses;
• metribuzin, following the non-renewal of its approval by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2806;
• dodemorph, including dodemorph acetate;
• fenpyrazamine;
• flumetralin;
• metaflumizone;
• pyridalyl; and
• tritosulfuron.

The last six substances were withdrawn by their manufacturers from the approval process under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, and their harmonised classification under Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 indicates concerns for human health or the environment. A ninth pesticide-related substance, polyhexamethylene biguanide hydrochloride (PHMB), is added as severely restricted for biocide use.

Industrial chemicals and new export bans

The delegated regulation also extends the lists to industrial chemicals, adding substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction category 1A or 1B — among them DEHP, DBP, chromium trioxide and other hexavalent chromium compounds, diarsenic trioxide, arsenic acid, trichloroethylene and MOCA — that are banned from supply to the general public under REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006). Substances of very high concern listed in Annex XIV of REACH for which no authorisation has been granted, including the UV absorbers UV-320, UV-327, UV-328 and UV-350, are likewise added.

Annex V, the EU’s export ban list, gains UV-328, Dechlorane Plus and methoxychlor, following their listing under the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants; the new entries allow limited exceptions for exempted uses and concentrations at or below the limit values set in Regulation (EU) 2019/1021.

Decisions from the Conferences of the Parties

At its twelfth meeting (28 April–9 May 2025), the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention included carbosulfan and fenthion in ultra-low-volume formulations at or above 640 g of active ingredient per litre in Annex III to the convention; both now appear in Part 3 of Annex I, and carbosulfan is removed from Part 2. The regulation also corrects the HS code for mixtures containing terbufos and completes the entry for abamectin.

What it means

For EU chemical and agri-input exporters, the October application date leaves roughly seven weeks to wind down shipments of the affected substances; importers in third countries will have to obtain PIC consent or switch to alternatives. The update shows how EU pesticide approvals and international chemicals treaties converge, turning domestic withdrawals into global trade restrictions.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 12 August 2026 (official reference: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1278; ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2026/1278/oj).