(AGENPARL) - Roma, 19 Gennaio 2023(AGENPARL) – gio 19 gennaio 2023 Dear All,
Please find attached press release in respect of Judgment of the Court in Case C-147/21 | CIHEF and Others
The level of harmonisation achieved at EU level by the Biocidal Products Regulation does not prevent Member States from adopting restrictive rules on the promotion of sales of those products
These bans do not constitute a hindrance to the free movement of goods if their objective is to protect health and the environment, if they are suitable for attaining that objective and if they do not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain it
Kind regards,
Vittorio Quartetti
Trainee
Press and Information Unit
Communication Department
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Testo Allegato:
Communications Directorate
Press and Information Unit
curia.europa.eu
PRESS RELEASE
No
1
3
/23
Luxembourg,
19
January
2023
Judgment of the Court in Case
C
–
147
/21 | CIHEF
and Others
The level of harmonisation achieved at EU level by the Biocidal Products
Regulation does not prevent Member States from adopting restrictive
ru
les
on the promotion of sales of those products
These bans do not constitute
a hindrance to the free movement of goods
if
their objective is to protect health
and the environment,
if
they are suitable for attaining that objective and
if
they do not go beyo
nd what is
necessary in order to attain it
In order to improve the protection of public health and the environment,
two French decrees adopted in 2019
regulate commercial practices and advertising relating to several types
of
biocidal products. On the one
hand, those
decrees provide that insecticides and rodenticides cannot be subject to certain commercial practices, such as
discounts, price reductions and rebates. On the other hand
, they also limit commercial advertising for those
products as well as for c
ertain disinfectants.
The Comité interprofessionnel des huiles essentielles françaises (
Inter
–
Trade Committee for French Essential Oils;
CIHEF
) and certain
essential oil manufacturers brought an action before the Conseil
dâ??Ã?tat
(Council of State, France)
i
n order to obtain the annulment of the decrees, in particular because of their alleged incompatibility with the
B
iocidal Products Regulation
1
.
The Council of State thus asked the Court whether that regulation and, more generally, the principle of free
move
restrictive national
rules
in the area of
commercial practices and advertising for authorised biocidal products
which
pursue an objective
of protection of public healt
h and the environment.
EU law does not preclude, per se,
the restrictive measures in question as regards commercial practices
The Court holds that
neither
the
Biocidal Products Regulation nor, more generally, EU law precludes national
legislation which pro
hibits certain commercial practices such as
discounts, price reductions, rebates, the
differentiation of general and special conditions of sale, the gift of free units
or
any equivalent practices
, relating to
biocidal products of product
–
types 14 (rodentic
ides) and 18 (insecticides, acaricides and products to control other
arthropods
)
such prohibitions are
justified by
objectives of
protection of the health and life of humans and of the envi
ronment
, that they are
suitable for
securing the attainment of those objectives
and that
they do not
go beyond what is necessary
in order to
attain them
.
The Biocidal Products Regulation precludes national legislation
requiring
an additional statement
for
advertising
addressed to professionals
The Court holds that the Biocidal Products Regulation precludes national legislation which requires the affixing of a
statement, in
addition to that provided for by that regulation, to advertisements addressed to prof
essionals for
biocidal products of product
–
types 2 (disinfectants and
algaecides not intended for direct application to humans or
1
Regulation (EU)
No
5
28/2012
of the European Parliament and of the Council of
22
May
2012
concerning the making available on the market and use
of biocidal products
,
(OJ
2012, L 167, p. 1).
Communications Directorate
Press and Information Unit
curia.europa.eu
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animals
) and 4 (
food and feed area
), as well as of product
–
types 14 and 18.
The Court indicates that the Biocidal Products Reg
ulation
already contains
a provision regulati
n
g
, in a
detailed
and
comprehensive
manner,
the wording of statements on the risks of using of biocidal products
that
may appear in
ad
vertisements for those products. Indeed, it
provides for the existence of a
m
andatory statement
(
â??
Use biocides
safely. Always read the label and product information before use
.â??
),
expressly prohibits certain statements
such
as
â??low
–
risk biocidal productâ??, â??non
–
toxicâ?? or â??environmentally friendlyâ??
and seeks
, more generally, to
prohi
bit any
advertising statement
which is
liable to mislead
the user as to the risks that such products may present
.
Consequently
,
the
field concerning
the
statements on the risks of using biocidal products
that
may be used in the
advertising of those product
s
has been fully harmonised by the EU legislature
.
Member States may, under certain conditions, prohibit advertising addressed to the general public
ude
national legislation which prohibits advertising addressed to the general public for biocidal products of product
–
types 2 and 4, as well as of product
–
types 14 and 18. The EU legislature
did
indeed
regulate the wording of
the
statements on the risks of
using biocidal products
that
may appear in advertisements for those products
, but it did
not intend to regulate
all
aspects
relating to the advertising of biocidal products and, in particular, to rule out the
possibility for Member States to prohibit adve
rtising addressed to the general public
.
The Court
next verifies that that legislation constitutes a
selling arrangement
which applies to all relevant traders
operating within the national territory and which affects in the same manner, in law and in fact,
domestic products and of those from other Member States
. In that regard, the Court indicates that such legislation
must satisfy
two
conditions, which is for the referring court to verify:
1.
it must apply
without distinction
to all relevant
traders operating within French territory
;
2.
it
affects
in the same manner, in law and in fact
other Member States
Last,
if
that
legislation affects the access of biocidal products from other Member State
more than that of such products from France,
the Court provides directions for assessing
the compatibility of the
said legislation with the provisions of the FEU Treaty relating to the free movement of goods.
In that regard, it h
olds, first, that that legislation is
appropriate for the attainment of the objectives of
protecting human health and the environment
since it seeks to limit
the incentives to purchase and use such
products.
Second, it holds that the prohibition
of all adv
ertising addressed to the general public for certain biocidal
products does not go
beyond what is necessary
to
achieve those objectives
. The Court specifies that that
legislation
applies only to advertising addressed to the general public and
therefore doe
s not prohibit advertising
to professionals
. Furthermore, it has a
limited scope
since it does not cover all biocidal products but only those of
product
–
types 2 and 4 as we
ll as of product
–
types 14 and 18
, that is to say,
those which pose the highest risks
to
human health
, and does not apply to biocidal products eligible for the simplified authorisation procedure
.
NOTE:
A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which
have been brought before them,
Union law or the validity of a European Union act. The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself. It is for the
national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in
accordance with the Courtâ??s decision, which is similarly binding on
other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
Unofficial document for media use, not binding on the Court of Justice.
The
full text
of the judgment is published on the CURIA website on the day of delivery.
Press contact:
Jacques René Zammit
â??
(+352) 4
303
335
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