The European Court of Justice has annulled the decision by the European Commission to end the ban on bovine products from Portugal, introduced to combat bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
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The court ruled that inspections carried out by the Commission did not make it possible to assert that the conditions laid down for lifting the ban had been met.
In 1998, as a result of the cases of BSE in Portugal, the Commission prohibited that country from exporting live bovine animals, beef and veal, and products obtained from those animals to other Member States or to third countries.
On 18 April 2001, the Commission laid down in a decision the conditions for lifting the ban and implemented a date-based export scheme (the DBES) with a view to permitting, subject to compliance with certain requirements, the dispatch of products from animals born after a given date. Pursuant to that decision, the Commission had to carry out inspections in Portugal before lifting the ban.
Subsequently, on 25 July 2001, the Commission adopted another decision by which it set 1 August 2001 as the date for the recommencement of exports of bovine products from Portugal.
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By GlobalDataFrance brought an action before the Court of Justice challenging that second decision since it took the view that the Commission was not in a position to assert that the conditions laid down for lifting the ban had been met.
The court determined the Commission should have carried out further inspections, in accordance with its decision of 18 April 2001. Therefore the court has annulled the Commission decision of 25 July 2001 ending the ban on bovine products from Portugal.
