ECJ dismisses France's repeal of animal testing law
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed an action brought against the progressive ban on animal testing for the purpose of developing and marketing cosmetics by France. Approved by the European Parliament in January 2003, the Directive 2003/15/EC requires Member States to progressively ban the marketing of cosmetic products in cases where those products or their ingredients have been the subject of animal testing. They are also required to prohibit the carrying out of testing on animals in respect to such products and their ingredients. The Directive also replaces a previous directive banning the marketing of these products. France sought an annulment of the prohibitions, claiming that they infringe on the principle of legal certainty. However, no annulment was sought for the provision cancelling the previous ban. The ECJ rejected France's application, stating: 'The Court of Justice first points out that partial annulment of a Community measure is possible only if the elements of 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 the provisions relating to testing on animals for the purpose of developing cosmetic products.' The ECJ also emphasised that together, the two provisions are intended to abolish animal experiments for cosmetic products, and that the new bans and the deletion of the previous ban constitute a non-severable whole. 'The Court accordingly concludes that the partial annulment sought was impossible and declared the action to be inadmissible,' concludes a statement from the ECJ.