EU Court annuls action against ban sought on animal testing for developing & marketing cosmetics

25 May '05

3 min read

partial annulment of the contested directive would alter the substance of the provisions relating to testing on animals for the purpose of developing cosmetic products.

directive 2003/15/ec1 provides, inter alia, that member states are to ban progressively the marketing of cosmetic products in cases where those products or their ingredients have been the subject of animal testing and the performance, within their territory, of testing on animals in respect of such products or ingredients. the directive also sets aside the ban on marketing of those products provided for hitherto by directive 76/7682.

france requested the court of justice of the european communities to annul the new bans thus introduced by directive 2003/15, arguing in particular that they infringed the principle of legal certainty. france did not, however, seek annulment of the provision which set aside the previous ban.

the court of justice first points out that partial annulment of a community measure is possible only if the elements the annulment of which is sought may be severed from the remainder of the measure; that requirement is not satisfied in the case where the partial annulment sought would have the effect of altering the substance of the measure in question.

in the present case, the court takes the view that annulment of the contested provision alone, while at the same time leaving intact the provision setting aside the earlier ban, would substantively alter theprovisions relating to testing on animals for the purpose of developing cosmetic products.

More General News - Luxembourg...