Industrias Quimicas del VallEs v Commission (Environment and consumers)

(Appeal - Directive 91/414/EEC - Plant protection products - Active substances - Assessment procedure for their inclusion in Annex I to the Directive - Metalaxyl)

Industrias Químicas del Valles SA ("IQV") is appealing against the judgment of the Court of First Instance of 28 June 2005 ( 2 ) dismissing the action for annulment of Commission Decision 2003/308/EC of 2 May 2003 concerning the non-inclusion of metalaxyl in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC and the withdrawal of authorisations for plant-protection products containing this active substance ( 3 ) ("the contested decision").

An unwieldy bundle of pleas reveals the tension between, on the one hand, compliance with the deadlines which the Commission has fixed with a view to ensuring that access to Annex I to Council Directive 91/414 ( 4 ) is managed somewhat methodically and, on the other, the essential aim of that legislation, which takes precedence over other aspects in order to make sure that any substance which promotes the development of the chemical industry without endangering human health or the environment is registered.

Directive 91/414 concerns the authorisation, placing on the market, use and control of plant protection products (Article 1(1)), and approves only those which contain active substances ( 5 ) listed in Annex I thereto (Article 4(1)); an active substance may be so included if, in the light of current scientific and technical knowledge, it does not have any harmful effects on health or any unacceptable influence on the environment (Article 5(1)). ( 6 )

However, the Member States are permitted, during a period of not more than 12 years, to authorise the distribution of plant protection products containing substances not listed in Annex I provided that those substances were already on the market two years after the date of notification of the directive (Article 8(2), first subparagraph), as is the case with metalaxyl. That period, which expired on 26 July 2003, was extended until 31 December 2005, except in cases where a decision to include or not to include a particular substance in Annex I had been taken before that date. ( 7 )