EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION 
Brussels, XXX   
SCP40 […](2014) XXX  draft 
  
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION 
of XXX  
pursuant to Article 3(3) of Re gulation (EU) No 528/2012 on  cationic polymeric binders 
with quaternary ammonium compounds incorporated in paints and coatings 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
  
EN 2   EN COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION 
of XXX  
pursuant to Article 3(3) of Regulation (E U) No 528/2012 on cationic polymeric binders 
with quaternary ammonium compounds in corporated in paints and coatings 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 22 May 2012 concerning the making av ailable on the market and use of biocidal 
products
1, and in particular Article 3(3) thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Pursuant to Article 3(3) of Regulat ion (EU) No 528/2012, on 30 October 2013, the 
Netherlands submitted a request to the Commission to decide whether a series of products (cationic polymeric binders with  quaternary ammonium compounds) placed 
on the market with a view to be incorporated in paints and coatings (hereafter referred 
as 'paints') and confer to those paints th e property to kill harmful and pathogenic 
microorganisms on the paints dried surface, were biocidal products  as defined under 
Article (1)(a) first inde nt of that Regulation, or not, a nd whether the paints themselves 
should be considered as bi ocidal products or not. 
(2) According to the information provided by the company placing the products on the 
market (hereafter referred as 'the compan y'), those products consist of polymers 
modified with quaternary ammonium groups . The polymer used varies from one 
product to another depending on the request  of paint manufactur ers. The products 
themselves do not have an antimicrobial activity. The company sells those products to paint manufacturers, who then mix them  with other polymers used for paint 
manufacturing and a hardener thereby cros s-linking all polymers. The cross-linked 
polymers form a cationic surface in the drie d paint, which exerts the antimicrobial 
effect. 
(3) After a first round of discussions with experts from the Member States, the 
Commission requested on 2 February 2014 an  opinion from the European Chemicals 
Agency in accordance with Ar ticle 75(1)(g) of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 as to 
whether the products of the company contri bute to the antimicrobial properties of 
paints in which it may be incorporated, if those properties result fr om the action of an 
active substance, and if so, what is the identity of the active substance. 
(4) The opinion of the European Chemicals Agency was formulated on 9 April 2014 by 
the Biocidal Product Committee. 
(5) According to that opinion, the mode of acti on under consideration involves an active 
substance as it is based on a substance, with in the meaning of Article 3 of Regulation 
                                                
 
1 OJ L 167, 27.6.2012, p. 1.  
EN 3   EN (EU) No 1907/2006 of the European  Parliament and of the Council2, which has an 
action on harmful organisms.  
(6) The active substance is formed in the paint in which it is incorporated by a chemical 
reaction of three constituents: the cationic polymeric binder, with quaternary ammonium groups, of variable  chain length and equipped with a functional group; a 
polymeric dispersion equipped with the same functional group as the cationic 
polymeric binder and a polymeric hardener  for cross-linking th e above mentioned 
polymeric constituents.  
(7) Furthermore, according to that opinion, the mode of action of the active substance 
relies on electrostatic attractions leadi ng to modifications of physiological and 
biochemical mechanisms (e.g. bacterial signa l transduction systems) and to the death 
of the target organisms. The mode of acti on can therefore not be considered to be 
merely physical or mechanical. 
(8) In accordance with Article 3(1)(a), destroying, deterring, rendering harmless, 
preventing the action of, or otherwise exerting a controlling effect on any harmful organism is a biocidal function. 
(9) The cationic polymeric binders are not intended to have a biocidal function in the form 
in which they are supplied by the company to paint manufacturers and therefore do not 
comply with the definitio n of a biocidal product. 
(10) Paints incorporating those products are mixt ures, which, in the form they are supplied 
by paint manufacturers to their customers,  generate an active substance and are 
intended to have a biocidal function other than by mere physical or mechanical action, 
and therefore comply with the definition of a biocidal product.  
(11) The measures provided for in this Regulati on are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Standing Committee on Biocidal Products, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 
Article 1 
The cationic polymeric binders with quaternar y ammonium compounds placed on the market 
to be incorporated in in paints and coa tings (hereafter referred as 'paints') by paint 
manufacturers with a view to conf er to those paints a biocidal function shall not be considered 
biocidal products. 
The paints, in which the cationic polymeric binders with quaternar y ammonium compounds 
are incorporated by paint manuf acturers with a view to confer  to those paints a biocidal 
function, shall be consid ered biocidal products. 
Article 2 
This Decision shall enter into force on the twen tieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of  the European Union . 
                                                
 
2 Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of  the European Parliament and of  the Council of 18 December 2006 
concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), 
establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council 
Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 
2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1–849).  
EN 4   EN Done at Brussels, 
 For the Commission 
 The President  José Manuel BARROSO