Geraniol insect repellents and the EU BPR: what changed in 2026 and what follows in 2027

Updated September 2026. The transitional period for geraniol-containing biocidal products in the EU ended on 30 April 2026. Products already on the market are now in the member-state withdrawal phase, and no new geraniol-based PT18 or PT19 product can be placed on the EU market. If you distribute or sell insect repellents or insecticides that relied on geraniol, this article explains how we got here and what to do next.

What happened: the July 2025 ECHA decision

On 2 July 2025, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published an updated list of active substances in the EU Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) review programme. It confirmed something regulatory circles had expected for some time: no company or industry consortium submitted a notification to support the continued approval of geraniol for Product Type 18 (insecticides and acaricides) or Product Type 19 (repellents and attractants).

Under the BPR, when nobody supports an active substance's continued approval, ECHA classifies the substance as unsupported for those product types. That triggers a formal non-approval decision by the European Commission, and geraniol can no longer be used as an active substance in EU insecticides or repellents.

ECHA's published status for geraniol in the review programme reads: Commission decision, participant withdrawal. This is not a proposal or a risk. It is a confirmed regulatory outcome.

The timeline

• 2 July 2025: ECHA publishes the updated BPR review list. Geraniol confirmed unsupported for PT18 and PT19; no notifier submitted support by the deadline.
• September to October 2025: ANSES, the French biocide authority, confirms at the Biocide Congress in Lyon that geraniol is no longer supported under the EU active substance review programme.
• 30 April 2026: geraniol's approval extension expires. End of the transitional period. Products already on the market enter a grace period; no new products may be placed on the market after the Commission's non-approval decision.
• From May 2026: the European Commission issues the formal non-approval decision. Each member state sets its own withdrawal timeline for products already in the market. Placing new geraniol-based PT18 and PT19 products on the EU market is prohibited.

The grace period for products already on shelves varies by member state. Germany, with its historically strict national application of BPR rules, is expected to act at the shorter end.

What this means in plain terms

• New geraniol-based insect repellents and insecticides cannot be placed on the EU market. Companies cannot register new products, extend existing ranges, or reformulate around geraniol as the active substance.
• Existing products have a finite shelf life in the EU. Products sold under transitional provisions are withdrawn once the grace period ends in each member state. The clock is running.
• Retailers and distributors carry a portfolio risk. Products you stock today may not be reorderable in the same formulation. If your supplier has not confirmed a reformulation strategy, have that conversation now.
• A natural label gives no regulatory protection. Geraniol comes from rose oil, citronella and other botanicals, and many products containing it were marketed as natural or plant-based alternatives to synthetic repellents. That does not exempt them from the BPR. The outcome is the same regardless of origin.

Why geraniol lost support

That no company or consortium stepped forward to support geraniol is significant. An active substance dossier for BPR approval is a multi-year, multi-million euro process. The industry voted with its feet: the investment was not worth making. Several factors contributed.

• Poor efficacy-to-duration ratio. Independent field studies consistently show geraniol repelling for under two hours, often under one hour in warm outdoor conditions. Under the BPR a product must demonstrate adequate efficacy for its claimed use, and a repellent that needs reapplying every 45 minutes has a weak regulatory position next to substances that offer hours or weeks.
• Skin sensitisation profile. Geraniol is a documented skin sensitiser and one of the 26 fragrance allergens that must be declared on cosmetic labels under the EU Cosmetics Regulation. For a biocidal product applied repeatedly to surfaces in living spaces, that made the human health assessment hard to defend.
• Aquatic toxicity. Geraniol shows moderate to significant aquatic toxicity, particularly to invertebrates. This is a standard assessment area under the BPR's environmental risk criteria, and the data did not make the dossier straightforward.

The combined picture was a substance that was expensive to defend, with a weak efficacy profile and open safety questions. Letting the approval lapse was the rational decision.

What also changed: lavandin oil (PT19)

Geraniol is not alone. The same ECHA update and the Biocide Congress announcement also flagged lavandin oil (Lavandula hybrida extract) for PT19. A notifier deadline of 26 August 2026 was open for lavandin, so a company could have stepped forward to support it. Either way the signal is clear: the botanical active substance category for repellents is under broad regulatory pressure in the EU.

Distributors and brand owners with product lines built on plant-derived actives should audit the whole portfolio, not only the geraniol SKUs.

The compliant alternatives

The good news is that alternatives with regulatory stability exist. Three actives matter for the repellent market.

Icaridin (picaridin, KBR 3023). Approved at EU active-substance level for PT19. Its efficacy profile is fundamentally different from geraniol's: skin-applied Icaridin formulations protect for hours, and surface-applied Icaridin in a controlled-release coating, which is what Repeltec is, protects for weeks.

DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide). Approved and effective, but with consumer acceptance challenges in Northern and Western Europe and restrictions for use with young children and during pregnancy. It is unlikely to be the direction for new consumer products.

IR3535. Approved and effective in skin-applied formulations. It offers no meaningful surface repellency and a limited duration next to controlled-release Icaridin.

How Affix Labs and Repeltec fit in

Repeltec is a surface repellent built on Icaridin, delivered through Affix Labs' patented water-based controlled-release platform. It is not affected by the geraniol phase-out. The product is available today.

The platform was designed to fix what was wrong with existing repellent technologies, including short-duration botanicals like geraniol and citronella. The formulation is more than 70% water and uses no harsh organic solvents. The technology page explains the mechanism.

For distributors: the Powered by Affix Labs white-label programme

If you distributed geraniol repellents in the EU and need a compliant replacement under your own brand, this is the conversation to start. Affix Labs supplies white label under the Powered by Affix Labs programme. Partners receive:

• Full regulatory documentation to support your own registrations.
• Custom labelling and packaging under your brand.
• Technical and regulatory support for national registration where required.
• A product with a commercial track record in its current European markets.

Sample kits are available through Repeltec Professional. For partnership discussions: info@affixlabs.com, subject line “Geraniol replacement, white-label enquiry”.

What to do now

• Audit your portfolio for geraniol-containing PT18 and PT19 products. Check every active substance declaration on every biocidal product you sell or distribute in the EU, including products marketed as natural, plant-based or citronella-derived. Geraniol appears under several names: geraniol, geranyl acetate, rose oil concentrate.
• Ask your suppliers to confirm their reformulation status. A supplier without a confirmed non-geraniol reformulation has no legal pathway in the EU once the grace period ends.
• Request samples and regulatory documentation from alternative suppliers. Procurement cycles and national registrations take time.
• Watch your national competent authority for the local grace period. Germany (BAuA), France (ANSES) and the Netherlands (Ctgb) each set their own withdrawal timelines.
• Brief your retail buyers and key accounts. They need the regulatory picture for their buying decisions in the 2027 season.

Summary

Geraniol lost its EU BPR support on 2 July 2025, when ECHA confirmed that no notifier had come forward for PT18 or PT19. Its approval extension expired on 30 April 2026, the Commission's non-approval decision follows, and placing new geraniol-based biocidal insecticides and repellents on the EU market is prohibited.

The phase-out surprised nobody who tracks ECHA's review programme, but its implications are only now reaching the retail and distribution conversation. Icaridin-based alternatives with EU active-substance approval exist today. Repeltec, produced by Affix Labs on a patented controlled-release platform, is one of them and is available for white-label supply now.

Source: ECHA BPR active substance review programme, updated list published 2 July 2025.