In a preliminary judgment on Tuesday 22 February (case C-160/20 Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd et al.), the Court of Justice of the EU confirms that the method established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for determining the maximum emission levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide from filter cigarettes - a method referred to in EU law - is valid and enforceable against cigarette manufacturers. However, according to the Court, this method is not enforceable against private individuals in the broad sense, as it has not been published in the Official Journal of the EU.
At the heart of this judgment is Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/40/EU on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products and related products.
This article states that emissions are measured on the basis of ISO 4387 for tar, ISO 10315 for nicotine and ISO 8454 for carbon monoxide. The accuracy of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide measurements is determined in accordance with ISO 8243.
In July and August 2018, the Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd (Youth Tobacco Prevention Foundation, the Netherlands) and fourteen other entities applied to the Nederlandse Voedsel-en Warenautoriteit (Dutch Food and Consumer Products Authority) for an injunction.
They requested that the authority ensure that filter cigarettes offered to consumers in the Netherlands comply with the maximum levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide emissions set by the Directive.
After this request was rejected, followed by an administrative appeal, the applicants lodged a judicial appeal with the Rotterdam Court (Rechtbank Rotterdam)
They argued that Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/40 does not require the use of a specific method of measuring emission levels and that, in particular, various studies have shown that another measurement method (the so-called ‘Canadian Intense’ method) should be used to determine the exact emission levels for filter cigarettes used in accordance with their intended purpose.
The Court of Justice of the European Union was asked to rule on the validity of this article in light of the principle of transparency, several provisions of EU law and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
In its judgment, the Court confirms the validity of this provision, considering that it is in conformity with the principles and provisions of EU and international law.
The Court recalls that, by virtue of the principle of legal certainty, such rules, made binding by a legislative act of the Union, may be enforceable against individuals in general only if they have themselves been published in the Official Journal of the EU.
See the judgment : https://aeur.eu/f/ga (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)