Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 6 October 2021 –
Sipcam Oxon v Commission
(Case T‑518/19)
(Plant protection products – Active substance chlorothalonil – Non-renewal of inclusion in the annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 – Assessment procedure – Rights of the defence – Proposed classification of an active substance – Legal certainty – Proportionality – Precautionary principle)
1. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Renewal of approval – Assessment of risks – Concerns relating to the substance at issue – Existence of data gaps – No manifest error of assessment – Position of the rapporteur Member State – Irrelevant
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009, Art. 4(3))
(see paras 47-49, 56, 68, 77, 79-81)
2. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Renewal of approval – Implementation of the renewal procedure – Commission’s refusal to examine additional data submitted after the end of the peer review – No infringement of the rights of the defence
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009, Recital 14; Commission Regulation No 1141/2010, Art. 16(4))
(see paras 98-101)
3. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Renewal of approval – Rights of the defence – Scope – No general or absolute right to submit oral observations
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009; Commission Regulation No 844/2012)
(see para. 103)
4. Action for annulment – Pleas in law – Plea directed against a superfluous ground – Invalid plea in law
(see para. 112)
5. Approximation of laws – Classification, packaging and labelling of substances and mixtures – Regulation No 1272/2008 – Hazard classification for plant protection product substances – Lack of competence of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) – Taking into account of the review of the literature, reviewed by EFSA in the context of an assessment under Regulation No 1107/2009
(European Parliament and Council Regulations No 1272/2008 and No 1107/2009, Annex II)
(see paras 115-117)
6. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Placing of plant protection products on the market – Regulation No 1107/2009 – Application of the precautionary principle – Discretion of the EU institutions – Scope
(Arts 9, 168(1) and 191(2) TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 35; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 1107/2009)
(see paras 145-148)
7. EU law – Principles – Precautionary principle – Scope – Guidelines on recourse to the principle – Procedures for examining the benefits and costs of action or lack of action
(see paras 150, 151)
Re:
| Application under Article 263 TFEU seeking annulment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/677 of 29 April 2019 concerning the non-renewal of the approval of the active substance chlorothalonil, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 (OJ 2019 L 114, p. 15). |
Operative part
The Court:
2. | | Orders Sipcam Oxon SpA to pay the costs, including those relating to the proceedings for interim measures. |