On Friday 1 August, the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed the appeals lodged by France and the European Commission against the judgment of the General Court annulling the contentious classification of titanium dioxide as a carcinogen.
In particular, the judgment of 23 November 2022 found that the Commission had committed a manifest error “in the assessment of the ‘reliability and acceptability’” of a study used to justify the classification of titanium dioxide (see EUROPE 13069/29).
It is used as a white pigment in products such as paints, medicines and foodstuffs.
The Committee for Risk Assessment of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) issued an opinion classifying the substance as carcinogenic in 2017, following a proposal from the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES).
On the basis of this opinion, the European Commission adopted a regulation on the classification and labelling of titanium dioxide in 2019.
In dismissing the appeals brought by France and the European Commission, the Court confirms the 2022 judgment and the annulment of the disputed classification of titanium dioxide as a carcinogen.
The Court points out that the General Court was right to hold that ECHA’s Committee for Risk Assessment “had failed to take account of all the relevant factors for the purposes of assessing the scientific study in question”.
To see the ruling, go to https://aeur.eu/f/i3d (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)