Criminal Proceedings Against Frans-Nederlandse Maatschappij Voor Biologische Producten Bv: ECJ 17 Dec 1981

ECJ It follows from article 30 in conjunction with article 36 of the EEC Treaty that a member state is not prohibited from requiring plant protection products to be subject to prior approval , even if those products have already been approved in another member state. The authorities of the importing state are however not entitled unnecessarily to require technical or chemical analyses or laboratory tests when the same analyses or tests have already been carried out in another member state and their results are available to those authorities or may at their request be placed at their disposal.
A member state operating an approvals procedure must ensure that no unnecessary control expenses are incurred if the practical effects of the control carried out in the member state of origin satisfy the requirements of the protection of public health in the importing member state. On the other hand , the mere fact that those expenses weigh more heavily on a trader marketing small quantities of an approved product than on his competitor who markets much greater quantities does not justify the conclusion that such expenses constitute arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction within the meaning of article 36.

Citations:

R-272/80, [1981] EUECJ R-272/80

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

EEC Treaty 30

European

Updated: 21 June 2022; Ref: scu.215024