Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2002:209
Date: 2002-09-11
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Third Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Animal feedingstuffs;Approximation of laws
Concepts: General;Applications by natural or legal persons;Rights of the defence and procedural guarantees;Powers of the Community institutions;Provisions on agriculture and the general rules of the Treaty;Food additives;Principle of equality and non-discrimination;Freedom to pursue trade or professional activities;Principle of proportionality;Precautionary principle
Procedure: Action for annulment - unfounded
Origin: Belgium

summary of those two central findings of the SCAN opinion. The passages from that opinion cited by Fedesa and Fefana in support of their arguments do not alter that conclusion. It is true that those passages contain more detailed information about the reasons why, on the basis of available scientific knowledge, the use of streptogramins in human medicine was less significant in Denmark than in some other Member States. However, there is nothing in the wording of recital 15 to the contested regulation from which it might be concluded that the Community institutions tried to play down the criticisms made by SCAN regarding the information submitted by the Danish authorities in support of the safeguard measure. 216. Consequently, there are no grounds for Pfizer's view that the contested regulation misrepresents or distorts the SCAN opinion on that point. 217. Second, Pfizer refers to recital 16 to the contested regulation, which is worded as follows: ‘(16) Whereas, none the less, SCAN acknowledges that a reservoir of resistant genes within the animal population poses a potential risk for humans; whereas, contrary to the Commission, it is of the opinion that a full risk assessment cannot be made until, in particular, quantitative evidence of the extent of transfer of antimicrobial resistance from livestock sources is obtained’. 218. Pfizer observes that that recital is at variance with SCAN's comments on the ninth conclusion of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, in which it stated that the validity of the conclusion (that minimising the occurrence of virginiamycin-resistant E. faecium and staphylococci in animals and food could be critical for preserving the effect of streptogramins in human therapy) depended on the establishment of a link between a pool of resistance factors held within the bacteria comprising the animal gut flora and their transfer to human gut flora. It is apparent from the SCAN opinion that the reports submitted by the Danish authorities did not contain any new evidence to indicate the frequency of such transfers or whether they occurred at all. 219. In that regard, the Court observes that in recital 16 to the contested regulation, the Community institutions summarised the first two sentences of Part II of the general conclusions in the SCAN opinion: ‘SCAN is sympathetic to the general concern highlighted by the Danish action about the hazard that a reservoir of resistance genes within the animal population poses for humans. However, it is of the opinion that a full risk assessment cannot be made until quantitative evidence of the extent of transfer of antimicrobial resistance from livestock sources is obtained and the significance of this within the overall use of antimicrobials for clinical and non-clinical purposes evaluated.’ 220. It follows that essentially SCAN confirmed that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter was a ‘hazard’ to human health but that, because of the inadequacy of the available quantitative scientific data, it was not possible to carry out a full scientific assessment of the risks associated with the product. In essence, Pfizer complains that the Community institutions were wrong to suggest in the recitals that, according to SCAN, there was a proper scientific basis on which to conclude that there was a ‘risk’ associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter. Pfizer relies, in this respect, on those parts of the SCAN opinion in which SCAN, conversely, expressed strong reservations about the likelihood of a link existing between the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter and the development of resistance to streptogramins in humans. 221. However, although the Community institutions used the term ‘risk’, which has a different meaning from ‘hazard’ for the purposes of risk assessment and risk management (see paragraph 147 above), they did make clear that, according to SCAN, use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter entailed a ‘potential risk’. It is clear from the preamble to the contested regulation as a whole that, by referring to a potential risk, the Community institutions intended to convey that SCAN did not exclude such a risk. It is only in recitals 17 to 20 to the contested regulation that the Community institutions summarised the various matters which they regarded as sufficient indication of the probability that use of the product would have adverse effects, leading them to conclude that the product entailed a risk to human health (see the analysis under (c) below). 222. Similarly, other parts of the SCAN opinion are at variance with Pfizer's arguments. 223. It is appropriate to point out that, in relation to conclusion 3 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, according to which the sat A gene (which ‘encodes’ information about resistance to streptogramins) has been detected not only in virginiamycin-resistant E. faecium bacteria found in animals but also in streptogramin-resistant E. faecium bacteria causing infections in humans, SCAN adds the following comment: ‘SCAN notes, however, that the presence of sat A was found only in a minority of animal strains in both studies but was associated with a far greater proportion of streptogramin-resistant human isolates. This difference may be an artefact reflecting the relatively low number of isolates examined, isolations made from farms which did not use virginiamycin, the quality of the PCR primer used to detect sat A or the presence of other, yet unrecognised, resistance factors. Also possible is that the constant use of a low concentration of virginiamycin in farm animals primarily selects for intrinsic resistance of a type that is almost universal amongst the related E. faecalis strains and that this provides the greatest source of resistance to streptogramins. In contrast, in humans where there is no selection pressure for intrinsic resistance, resistance is of the acquired type. Intrinsic resistance is less readily transferred than acquired resistance.’ 224. In other words, SCAN takes the view that the conclusion drawn by the Danish authorities can be more satisfactorily accounted for by explanations other than the transfer of resistance via a transfer of the sat A gene. However, a transfer of resistance is not ruled out. 225. Similarly, as regards the in vitro tests carried out by the Danish authorities (conclusion 4 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory) and referred to in recital 19 to the contested regulation, SCAN takes the view that ‘the data presented on frequency [are] misleading and [are], at best, an indication of the maximum rate possible. The likelihood of a mating occurring is directly related to the similarity of the genetic background between donor and recipient strains. The use of a single strain acting both as donor and recipient, and one selected on the basis of its aptitude for conjugation, is artificial. Data on the frequency of matings between the initial isolates, assuming that these were of animal origin, and the recipient strain would have been of greater value.’ 226. Here too, SCAN expresses a view on the likelihood that the transfer effected in vitro will also occur in normal conditions and in no way excludes the possibility that such a transfer may occur under normal conditions. 227. Next, SCAN takes the view that the scientific data on which conclusions 5 and 6 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory relating to the discovery of virginiamycin-resistant E. faecium bacteria in food and human faecal samples were based were too inadequate to allow any conclusions to be drawn. 228. The same may be said in respect of conclusion 7 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, according to which the ‘vat B’ gene was detected in virginiamycin-resistant staphylococci found in poultry and in staphylococci responsible for human infections. 229. Furthermore, as regards conclusion 8 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, according to which streptogramins were expected to play a pivotal role in the treatment of certain human infections, SCAN states: ‘Data provided in the DANMAP survey [show] that in 1995/6, the latest information presented, none of the enterococci or coagulese-negative staphylococci isolated from blood cultures in Denmark were resistant to vancomycin. Most were also susceptible to penicillin or its semi-synthetic derivatives. In fact Denmark appears to have one of the lowest recorded incidences of methicillin-resistance among Staphylococcus aureus strains at < 1%, compared to 3% in the Netherlands, 8% in the UK, 10% in the USA and 30% in France. Thus, at present, existing strategies for coping with hospital infections caused by enterococci or staphylococci remain successful in Denmark and the [supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory] contains no evidence that existing therapies are likely to be compromised in the short term.’ 230. Consequently, in those comments, SCAN points out that, in its view, the medicinal products currently used in Denmark are successful in treating infections. However, its comments in no way indicate that SCAN is ruling out the possibility that resistance may be transferred to humans. 231. Instead, it is apparent from recital 16 to the contested regulation that rather than having disregarded or even distorted the SCAN opinion, the Community institutions drew different conclusions from the available scientific data. Unlike SCAN, they concluded that, despite the existing scientific uncertainty, they had a proper scientific basis for taking action under the precautionary principle. 232. It follows that recital 16 does not distort the SCAN opinion as regards the degree of probability of the risk associated with virginiamycin. 233. Third, Pfizer refers to recital 17 to the contested regulation, which is worded as follows: ‘Whereas SCAN is also concerned about the development of vancomycin resistance amongst enterococci and methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, which are increasingly responsible for nosocomial infections, particularly in the United States and southern Europe; whereas that could make it necessary to use streptogramins as therapeutic agents of last resort to treat germs which have developed resistance to other antibiotics’. 234. In Pfizer's submission, while acknowledging the existence of methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the SCAN opinion also stated that Denmark appeared to have one of the lowest recorded incidences of methicillin-resistance among strains of Staphylococcus aureus, i.e. less than 1%. SCAN thus concluded that existing strategies for coping with hospital infections caused by enterococci or staphylococci continued to be effective in Denmark. SCAN also noted that the Status Report contained no evidence that existing therapies were likely to be compromised in the short term. 235. That argument cannot be accepted either. First, recital 15 to the contested regulation states that SCAN concluded that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter did not pose an immediate risk to public health in Denmark (see paragraph 212 above). Second, as the Court has held at paragraph 184 above, where, after a Member State has taken a safeguard measure, the Commission initiates the procedure for amending Directive 70/524 laid down in Article 24, it must carry out its own risk assessment at Community level. Therefore, it was right that attention was drawn to the fact, in the preamble to the contested regulation, that, as SCAN indicated in paragraph 2 of its general conclusions I (cited at paragraph 53 above), the development of multiple resistant strains of enterococci and staphylococci represents a significant problem worldwide and, in particular, in certain Member States. 236. Therefore it has not been proved in relation to recital 17 to the contested regulation that the facts have been in any way distorted. 237. Fourth, Pfizer refers to recital 18 to the contested regulation, which is worded as follows: ‘Whereas, furthermore, SCAN notes in its opinion that the virginiamycin-resistant enterococci and staphylococci isolated from poultry and pigs all had cross-resistance to pristinamycin used in human medicine or the combination dalfopristin/quinupristin, which is due to be authorised as a human medicinal product shortly’. 238. On that point, Pfizer argues that the SCAN opinion (more specifically SCAN's comments on conclusion 2 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory) had indicated that, while the data submitted in the reports from the Danish authorities supported the general conclusions concerning cross-resistance between streptogramins, they did not support the more specific statement in the body of the Danish reports that the resistance determinants were the same and could be specified. 239. The Court observes in that regard that the SCAN opinion bears out the Danish authorities' conclusion relating to the existence of cross-resistance between streptogramins. Furthermore, the more specific assertion by the Danish authorities that the resistance determinants were the same and could be specified was criticised by SCAN and was not referred to in the preamble to the contested regulation. 240. Fedesa and Fefana consider, for their part, that the SCAN opinion arrived at an entirely different conclusion from that summarised in recital 18 to the contested regulation. They refer to the following passages from the SCAN opinion: ‘Despite the potential for transfer of resistance factors, virginiamycin does not appear to have greatly compromised the value of pristinamycin in those countries which allow the use of streptogramins as both growth promoter and human therapeutics. After more than 20 years' use of both streptogramins in France, resistance to pristinamycin amongst staphylococci remains low at around 5% of isolates. More importantly, in a survey of nearly 1 000 MRSA collected from hospitals throughout France, 98.5% were found susceptible to both pristinamycin and Synercid (Gazagne et al., 1998). Unfortunately, corresponding data for E. faecium in France [are] not available. However, evidence from the USA, where a survey of 1 000 strains of E. faecium found 95-97% sensitive to Synercid, also suggests that use of virginiamycin has not, in practice, reduced the value of streptogramins as a human therapeutic agent’ (extracts from comments on conclusion 9). 241. However, the evidence relied on by those interveners does not relate to the existence of cross-resistance among streptogramins as such but to the fact, at issue between the parties (see paragraph 325 et seq. below), that, despite that phenomenon, the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter has not yet brought about a significant reduction in the effectiveness of pristinamycin and Synercid, even in countries where virginiamycin has been used as an additive in feedingstuffs. 242. Therefore, recital 18 to the contested regulation does not contain any errors of assessment of the SCAN opinion either. 243. Fifth, Fedesa and Fefana maintain that recital 19 to the contested regulation expresses the Commission's opinion that the case of a Dutch farmer - in whom strains of E. faecium bacteria resistant to virginiamycin and pristinamycin were found which had the same genetic fingerprint as those isolated from his poultry - provided an indication that resistance might be transferred from animals to humans, something which might be confirmed by other cases in the future. According to Fedesa and Fefana, so far as that particular observation was concerned, the Community institutions failed to add SCAN's view that ‘this generalisation from the particular remains unsound and without foundation’ (comment on conclusion 6 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory). 244. The Court observes that the Community institutions, after summarising that scientific observation, in recital 19 to the contested regulation, went on to say that ‘even if general conclusions about the transfer of resistant enterococci from animals to humans should not be drawn from a single case, the Commission sees it as an indication that this might be confirmed by other cases in the future’. 245. In doing so, the Community institutions took sufficient account of the criticisms made by SCAN of the conclusions of the Danish authorities relating to the scientific value of that observation. Therefore, the Community institutions have not distorted the SCAN opinion in that regard. (iii) Conclusion 246. It follows from the foregoing that the Community institutions did not make any errors in their assessment of the SCAN opinion. Similarly, the Court has not found a misuse of powers. Consideration will be given below (see paragraph 312 et seq.) to Pfizer's allegation that the Community institutions made manifest errors of assessment in forming the view, contrary to the claims in the SCAN opinion, that the use of virginiamycin constituted a risk to human health. (b) The fact that the new study on live rats was taken into account without SCAN's opinion being sought (i) Arguments of the parties 247. Pfizer submits that the contested regulation is unlawful since the Community institutions took account in their risk assessment of the new study on live rats, which had been provided by the Danish authorities after the SCAN opinion. Pfizer asks on what scientific basis the Council and Commission could, as they did in recital 20 to the contested regulation, properly describe that study as ‘major fresh evidence’ without having sought SCAN's opinion. 248. Although Pfizer recognises that the relevant legislation does not lay down an obligation to ask in every case for SCAN's opinion before authorisation of an additive is withdrawn, it none the less submits that, because of the scientific complexity of the dossier, the Commission was bound to seek a second scientific opinion from SCAN concerning that new scientific study in order to be in a position to make a proper assessment of its scientific value. Once the Commission had decided to consult SCAN about the safeguard measure taken by the Danish authorities, it could not decide, on grounds of political expediency, not to continue the dialogue with the experts on that committee when new scientific data were brought to its notice. 249. Referring to Case C-212/91 Angelopharm [1994] ECR I-171, paragraphs 31 to 41, Fedesa and Fefana submit that, to the extent to which the Commission does not itself have adequate scientific and technical knowledge to assess the relevant evidence in this type of case, then, regardless of the wording of the relevant legislation, consultation of the competent scientific committee becomes mandatory in all cases in order to ensure that measures taken at Community level are necessary and appropriate to the objective of protecting human health. Furthermore, it is clear from the judgments of the Court of First Instance in Case T-105/96 Pharos v Commission [1998] ECR II-285, paragraphs 65 and 68, and in Bergaderm and Goupil v Commission, cited at paragraph 115 above, paragraph 55, that in cases concerning public health the Community institutions must have enough time to prepare their decisions and, in particular, to arrange, where necessary, for the scientific issues which will determine their decisions to be examined afresh. 250. Furthermore, in Pfizer's submission, it is standard practice for the Commission to request an opinion from the competent scientific committee before acting, even if the relevant legislation does not require it to do so. That is clear both from the stance taken by the Commission in other cases before the Community Courts (Denkavit v Commission, cited at paragraph 154 above, and Pharos v Commission, cited at paragraph 249 above, paragraph 59) and from its Communication on Consumer Health and Food Safety, cited at paragraph 124 above. 251. The Council and the interveners supporting it observe, first, that the relevant legislation does not impose any obligation to consult SCAN a second time about the observations carried out by the Danish authorities. Likewise, they contend that it cannot be inferred from either the case-law cited by Pfizer or the practice of the institutions that any such obligation exists. 252. In any event, the Council and the Commission contend that the scientific evidence in their possession was sufficient to allow them to assess the implications of the new study on live rats and that they were not necessarily obliged to consult SCAN formally again. Referring to the minutes of the SCAN meeting of 5 November 1998, the Council and the Commission point out, however, that, contrary to Pfizer's contention, the Commission consulted SCAN a second time about the study but that SCAN refused to deliver a second opinion to the Commission, confining itself to stating that the study ‘does not bring new information on the subject’. At the hearing, the Council and the Commission maintained that a statement to that effect was an important scientific finding. 253. Finally, also at the hearing, the Council contended that it may base itself on scientific data which have not been assessed by the Commission's advisory body, SCAN, but which have been discussed in the Standing Committee. Even if it is the case that the Standing Committee is composed of representatives of Member States and the Commission and that the members did not necessarily have sufficient scientific knowledge, each member of the Committee is nevertheless assisted on the relevant scientific and technical questions by experts appointed for that purpose by his or her Member State. In this instance the Standing Committee held very detailed discussions about the scientific questions raised. (ii) Findings of the Court Introduction 254. As noted at paragraphs 54 and 56 above, it was in the context of the Standing Committee meetings that the Danish authorities, in the wake of the SCAN opinion, forwarded the new study on live rats to the other members of that Committee. 255. It is apparent from recital 20 to the contested regulation that the Community institutions found in that regard that the study constituted ‘major fresh evidence ... demonstrating a transfer in vivo under experimental conditions in the gastro-intestinal tract of rats of the sat A gene, via a plasmid, between isogenic strains of E. faecium [bacteria]’. 256. It is necessary to assess whether the Community institutions could properly take that new study into account and describe it as ‘major fresh evidence’ without having first obtained an opinion on it from SCAN. As to whether consultation of SCAN about the new study on live rats was mandatory or optional 257. First of all, under Article 8(1) of Directive 70/524 SCAN is to be ‘responsible for assisting the Commission, at the latter's request, on all scientific questions relating to the use of additives in animal nutrition’. In addition, Article 2(1) of Decision 97/579 provides that SCAN is to be consulted ‘in the cases laid down by Community legislation’ and that ‘[t]he Commission may also decide to consult it on other questions of particular relevance to consumer health and food safety’. In such cases, Article 2(3) of Decision 97/579 provides that ‘[a]t the Commission's request’ the Committee is to provide ‘scientific advice’. 258. Neither Article 11 nor Article 24 of Directive 70/524 makes provision for SCAN to be consulted. 259. Therefore, the abovementioned provisions of Directive 70/524 and Decision 97/579 of themselves have the effect that the Commission has the power to consult SCAN before withdrawing authorisation from an additive but is not under a duty to do so. 260. A fortiori, in a situation such as this, where new scientific evidence emerges after SCAN, at the Commission's request, has delivered its opinion, those provisions of Directive 70/524 and Decision 95/579 do not of themselves require the Commission to consult SCAN a second time in relation to that new scientific evidence. 261. Contrary to Pfizer's submission, neither the case-law of the Court of Justice or the Court of First Instance nor the Commission's practice provides grounds for inferring that there is an obligation to consult SCAN before any withdrawal of authorisation of an additive under Directive 70/524 and, therefore, an obligation to consult SCAN a second time about new evidence which has emerged after it has delivered its opinion. 262. To begin with, the Court notes that the Angelopharm judgment, cited at paragraph 249 above, deals with the interpretation of a directive relating to cosmetic products and, in particular, with whether consultation of the competent scientific committee (the Scientific Committee on Cosmetology) was mandatory or optional. The Court of Justice found that the directive at issue admitted of both the abovementioned interpretations (see paragraph 26 of the judgment). It was only in those circumstances that the Court of Justice found, following a purposive interpretation of the relevant provisions of the directive, that ‘[s]ince the purpose of consulting the Scientific Committee is to ensure that the measures adopted at Community level are necessary and adapted to the objective, pursued by the Cosmetics Directive, of protecting human health, consultation of the Committee must be mandatory in all cases’ (see paragraph 38 of the judgment). Given the unequivocal wording of the provisions applying in this case (see paragraphs 25 and 27 above), that precedent is not applicable to the present case. 263. Likewise, Pfizer is wrong to rely on Pharos v Commission, cited at paragraph 249 above, upheld by the Court of Justice in Case C-151/98 P Pharos v Commission [1999] ECR I-8157, and Bergaderm and Goupil v Commission, cited at paragraph 115 above, in support of its argument. Certainly, in those judgments the Court of First Instance held that the Commission could not be criticised, in cases concerning public health, for having taken the time necessary to address the relevant scientific issues and, in particular, for having referred them for a second examination by the competent scientific committee (Bergaderm and Goupil v Commission, paragraph 55, and Pharos v Commission, cited at paragraph 249 above, paragraphs 65 and 68). However, since the relevant legislation confers a discretion on the Commission in that regard, those judgments do not constitute authority for the opposite conclusion that, in a situation such as this, the Commission would be obliged to act in that way. 264. As regards what is alleged to be the Commission's standard practice, which, Pfizer submits, emerges from the Communication on Consumer Health and Food Safety, cited at paragraph 124 above, the Court finds that the Commission specifically stated in the communication that consultation of scientific committees was not compulsory in all cases (see paragraph 2.3 of the communication). Moreover, as regards the position allegedly adopted by the Community institutions in the cases already decided by the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance and cited at paragraph 249 above, the Community institutions have at no time stated that they were obliged to consult those committees. Rather, those cases concern the question whether, in the particular circumstances of the individual cases, the Community institutions could be criticised for having waited until the committees had delivered their opinions before taking the decisions which they were obliged to take. 265. Therefore, the Court must conclude that the intention of the Community legislature was that under Directive 70/524 the Community institutions should be able to withdraw authorisation from an additive in feedingstuffs, such as virginiamycin, without first having obtained an opinion from the abovementioned scientific committees. 266. A fortiori, in a case such as this, the contested regulation cannot be found to be unlawful merely because a second scientific opinion was not obtained from SCAN concerning the new study on live rats. 267. That being so, it has already been held at paragraph 154 above that the decision to maintain or withdraw the authorisation of antibiotics, including virginiamycin, called for particularly complex technical and scientific assessments on the part of the Community institutions. That finding clearly applies in relation to the new study on live rats. It is clear both from the study, prepared by four scientists at the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, and from recital 20 to the contested regulation that its purpose was to analyse whether, under experimental conditions in the gastro-intestinal tract of rats, a transfer of the sat A gene conferring resistance to virginiamycin via a plasmid could take place between isogenic strains of E. Faecium bacteria. The aim of the study, which had to be assessed by the Community institutions as part of their risk assessment, was thus to ascertain whether a transfer of genes similar to those observed in in vitro experiments could take place in vivo, in the gastro-intestinal system of live rats. 268. As held at paragraphs 158 and 159 above, in a case like this, expert scientific advice meeting the requirements of excellence, independence and transparency is of the utmost importance in risk assessment to ensure that the regulatory measures adopted by the Community institutions have a proper scientific basis and to ensure that the institutions were in a position to examine carefully and impartially all relevant evidence in a particular case. 269. In that connection, account must be taken of the fact that the Commission set up SCAN specifically with the aim of ensuring that Community legislation is founded on objective and sound scientific findings. The first recital to Decision 97/579 states that ‘sound scientific advice is an essential basis for Community rules on consumer health’. Similarly, in the preamble to the decision, the Commission stated that advice from scientific committees, such as SCAN, ‘must, in the interests of consumers and industry, be based on the principles of excellence, independence and transparency’. 270. In the light of the foregoing, the Court finds that it is only in exceptional circumstances and where there are adequate guarantees of scientific objectivity that the Community institutions may, when - as here - they are required to assess particularly complex facts of a technical or scientific nature, adopt a preventive measure withdrawing authorisation from an additive without obtaining an opinion from the scientific committee set up for that purpose at Community level on the relevant scientific material, in this case the new study on laboratory rats. 271. In that connection, the Community institutions have essentially put forward three main arguments. The second consultation of SCAN 272. First, the Council states that, contrary to Pfizer's submission, the Commission did consult SCAN and that consequently Pfizer's argument can on no account be accepted. 273. In that regard, it is clear from the documents before the Court that, at the meeting of the Standing Committee on 16 and 17 July 1998, the Danish authorities informally brought the new study on live rats to the attention of the other members of the Committee. The study was formally distributed to members of the Committee, at the Commission's request, only on 27 August 1998. Furthermore, it is apparent from an undated transmission report that the Commission sent the study to SCAN, indicating that it would be discussed at SCAN's next meeting, which was scheduled to take place on 29 and 30 September 1998. However, no mention is made of that study in the minutes of the SCAN meeting of 29 and 30 September 1998. By contrast, it is apparent from the minutes of the SCAN meeting of 5 November 1998 that on that occasion SCAN examined the new study and stated that it ‘does not bring new information on the subject.’ 274. In so far as the Council essentially maintained at the hearing that that statement amounted to a scientific opinion, the Court begins by observing that it was not adopted in accordance with the rules of procedure which SCAN adopted on 12 March 1998 under Article 8(1) of Decision 97/579. Those rules provide for a formal procedure for obtaining an opinion from SCAN, a procedure which was not followed in the present case. As the Council and the Commission confirmed in their answers to the Court's written questions, consultation of SCAN is initiated by a written request from Commission staff - a request which was not made in the present case. Furthermore, under paragraph 15 of the SCAN rules of procedure, SCAN's opinion ‘comprises the response given to a question posed by the Commission, a scientific explanation and any minority opinions’. Under Article 10 of Decision 97/579 and paragraph 15 of the rules of procedure, opinions of the committee are published subject to commercial confidentiality. Those principles, which, in a case such as this, amount to significant procedural guarantees (see paragraphs 170 to 172 above), were not respected in this instance, since SCAN confined itself to stating that the new study on live rats ‘does not bring new information on the subject’, without providing any scientific explanation. 275. Furthermore, since no reasons are given in support of the statement, it is not possible to ascertain to what extent the Commission itself can have been aware of the reasons on which SCAN based its conclusion. Nor is it possible to ascertain from the statement whether the Commission was able, on sound scientific grounds, to draw conclusions from it which appeared to it to be adequate and which in some circumstances might (as they were here) be contrary to those put forward in SCAN's statement. As the Court has stated in paragraph 162 above, it is essential to provide a statement of reasons in order to enable the Community institutions to determine their position vis-à-vis the problem which has arisen in full knowledge of the facts. 276. In so far as the Council is of the view that SCAN refused to deliver a second opinion despite being consulted by the Commission, the Court finds that in any event, under Article 2(5) of Decision 97/579, the Commission could have ‘require[d] the adoption of an opinion within a specified period’, making use if necessary of the accelerated procedure provided for in SCAN's rules of procedure for urgent cases. Furthermore, the Community institutions cannot properly rely on organisational difficulties within departments and committees set up by them to explain their failure to comply with a duty incumbent upon them, namely to carry out as thorough a scientific assessment of the risks as possible and, in that connection, to obtain if necessary an opinion from the relevant scientific committees before adopting preventive measures. 277. It follows that the statement made by SCAN at its meeting on 5 November 1998 about the new study on live rats does not amount to a scientific opinion for the purposes of the relevant provisions but is merely a view expressed by the members of SCAN pursuant to informal consultation by the Commission. The statement as such is therefore not capable of refuting Pfizer's argument. The role of the Standing Committee 278. Second, the Council and the Commission maintain that the new study on live rats was analysed by the Standing Committee. 279. In that regard, it is appropriate to point out in limine that it is clear from Articles 11 and 24 of Directive 70/524 that that Committee must be consulted by the Commission both at the stage of risk assessment and at the stage of risk management. Further, it follows from Article 2 of Decision 70/372 setting up the Standing Committee that, as well as its advisory functions, the Committee may ‘consider any other question arising under such instruments [Directive 70/524] and referred to it by the Chairman either on his own initiative or at the request of a Member State’. 280. However, attention should be drawn to the fact that the responsibilities conferred by Directive 70/524 on the Standing Committee must not be confused with those conferred on SCAN. The Standing Committee was set up with a fundamentally different aim from that of SCAN. 281. It is apparent from the preamble to Decision 70/372 that the Standing Committee was set up in order to ensure close cooperation between Member States and the Commission in the sphere of feedingstuffs. 282. The Committee, set up under Article 145 of the EC Treaty (now Article 202 EC) and made up of representatives of Member States and the Commission, is part of a mechanism for review by the representatives of the Member States of the Commission's exercise of the powers delegated to it by the Council (see, to that effect, the Opinion of Advocate General Jacobs in Angelopharm, cited at paragraph 249 above, ECR I-171, at I-173, point 38). It is clear from Article 24(3) of Directive 70/524 that the Commission itself can adopt measures entailing amendment of the annexes to the directive only if the measures are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee. If they are not in accordance with that opinion or if, as in this case, the Standing Committee has not delivered an opinion, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, is to adopt the measures within 15 days. Under Article 24(2) and (3) of Directive 70/524, and as is the case with Council decisions following a proposal from the Commission, opinions from the Standing Committee are delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the EC Treaty (now Article 205(2) EC). Furthermore, the votes of the representatives of the Member States within the Standing Committee are also weighted as provided for in that article. 283. Consequently, whatever professional qualifications its members may have, the Standing Committee must be regarded as a political body representative of the Member States and not as an independent scientific body. 284. Moreover, against the background of cooperation between the Member States and the Commission, the Standing Committee also assists the Commission in the exercise of the powers conferred on it by the Council (see, to that effect, Case T-188/97 Rothmans v Commission [1999] ECR II-2463, paragraphs 57 to 60). It is in that context that, as is clear from the short reports of the meetings of the Standing Committee held prior to adoption of the contested regulation, the members of the Committee analysed the relevant scientific evidence, including the SCAN opinion and the new study on live rats. 285. However, contrary to the substance of what the Council, supported by the Commission, asserted at the hearing, the results of the analysis of the scientific material by the members of the Standing Committee cannot be regarded as scientific advice based on the principles of excellence, transparency and independence, even though the members of the Committee are assisted by experts appointed by the Member States who are capable of understanding and explaining the full significance of that scientific evidence. 286. First, as the Court has just held and as the Council itself acknowledged at the hearing, the Standing Committee is not an independent scientific committee. 287. Second, it must be noted that, unlike SCAN opinions, the Standing Committee's analysis of scientific material is not published. Certainly, as the Council pointed out at the hearing, short reports of the meetings of the Committee are published on the Commission's web-site. However, the short reports of the meetings held prior to adoption of the contested regulation do not contain any trace of a structured scientific analysis essential to scientific advice. Even if it were the case, as the Council none the less maintained in substance at the hearing, that the work actually done within the Standing Committee was consistent with the principle of excellence of scientific advice, it would not, failing publication, meet the requirement that scientific advice should be transparent. 288. Analysis of scientific material by members of the Standing Committee, assisted where necessary by scientists appointed by the Member States, performs another function as important as the scientific risk assessment carried out at the Commission's request by independent experts from SCAN. As the Council rightly pointed out, there are bound to be limits to the role of scientific committees. They are purely advisory bodies. It is for the competent political authority to decide upon the measures to be taken, in general on the basis of scientific advice but without being bound, at least under the provisions applying in this instance, by any conclusions expressed therein (see paragraph 199 above). Defining the objectives to be pursued and risk management - duties which are, under the relevant provisions, divided between the Council and the Commission - can be properly performed by a public authority only if it acquires from the various bodies and departments working on its behalf and preparing the way for it to take a decision, sufficient technical knowledge to grasp the full significance of the scientific analysis performed by the independent experts and to decide, in full knowledge of the facts, whether a preventive measure should be taken and, if so, which. 289. It follows that the Standing Committee's analysis of the new study on live rats, provided by the Danish authorities after delivery of the SCAN opinion, cannot be regarded in itself as a scientific opinion. The Standing Committee's work does not therefore discharge the Community institutions from their duty to carry out a scientific risk assessment and, when doing so, to draw, as a general rule, on a scientific opinion delivered by the competent scientific committee set up at Community level or, in exceptional circumstances, on other appropriate scientific material (see paragraph 270). However, it is necessary to take account of the work when considering the errors of assessment allegedly made by the Community institutions in determining the level of risk deemed unacceptable and in managing the risk. 290. Therefore, the second argument advanced by the Council and the Commission must also be rejected. The exceptional circumstances allowing the Community institutions to take account of the new study on live rats without having obtained a further opinion from SCAN 291. Finally, the Court must assess whether, as the Community institutions maintain, the Commission, following consultation of the Standing Committee, was in a position to grasp the full significance of the new study on live rats and to take the view that there was a proper scientific basis on which to conclude that it amounted to ‘major fresh evidence’, which had to be taken into account in the assessment of the risks associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter. 292. It is clear from the summary of the study, which was carried out by four scientists at the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, and from recital 20 to the contested regulation that its purpose was to analyse whether, under experimental conditions, a plasmid transfer of the sat A gene conferring resistance to virginiamycin could take place between isogenic strains of E. faecium bacteria in the gastro-intestinal tract of rats. 293. In that regard, it is appropriate to take account of the fact that in its opinion, and as mentioned at the beginning of recital 19 to the contested regulation, SCAN had already assessed the issue of the transfer of the sat A gene between isogenic strains of E. faecium bacteria and had analysed the observations of that in vitro transfer. The SCAN opinion confirmed that the exchange of genetic information between isogenic strains of enterococci was a recognised phenomenon (‘[e]nterococci are known to be promiscuous and exchange of genetic information between similar strains is a common occurrence’, comments on conclusion 4 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory). Similarly, it concluded that the observation carried out in that regard in vitro by researchers at the Danish Veterinary Laboratory confirmed that was possible (‘[t]his experiment confirms that such conjunctions can involve plasmids carrying resistance genes including sat A’, ibid). 294. However, the SCAN opinion disputed in substance that it was possible to conclude from that observation that the genetic transfer of resistance could take place under normal conditions. As noted at paragraph 225 above, it stated: ‘However, the data presented on frequency is misleading and is, at best, an indication of the maximum rate possible. The likelihood of a mating occurring is directly related to the similarity of the genetic background between donor and recipient strains. The use of a single strain acting both as donor and recipient, and one selected on the basis of its aptitude for conjugation, is artificial. Data on the frequency of matings between the initial isolates, assuming that these were of animal origin, and the recipient strain would have been of greater value.’ 295. Next, the Court observes that the fact that no observations had been carried out under natural conditions had also been criticised by Pfizer itself in its observations on the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory. ‘Again, if one were to ignore the omissions in the report and make the assumption that the results are valid, this study would merely show that transfer of resistance genes can occur in vitro. The incidence recorded appears remarkably high, but if this were to have occurred in vivo [it] would have resulted in an extremely high incidence of resistance among the human population. Such is clearly not the case, and suggests that the results would therefore add little to the elucidation of whether such phenomenon occurs in vivo where contact between donor and recipient is less intimate and frequent’ (page 11). 296. Pfizer criticised the method employed and submits that the observations, even though they were performed on live rats, were actually carried out in artificial conditions. However, that fact was not disputed by the scientists who had carried out the in vivo study. It is clear from the summary of the study that it was carried out ‘under experimental conditions’ and that it merely suggests - rather than proves - ‘that a similar transfer may take place under natural conditions’. 297. The statement made by SCAN at its meeting on 5 November 1998 also seems to bear that out - lack of probative value, in SCAN's submission, but some evidential value according to the Community institutions. In stating that the study did not bring any new information on the subject, SCAN, in essence, repeated its abovementioned criticisms concerning methodology. 298. It follows that, on the basis of the SCAN opinion, scientific data submitted by the Danish authorities and comments made in that regard by Pfizer itself, the Community institutions were well aware of the methodological limitations of the new study on live rats and of the fact that it was purely indicative as regards any risk associated with the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs. Contrary to Pfizer's submission, they were sufficiently well informed to take the study into account in their risk assessment as evidence supplementary to the scientific data evaluated in the SCAN opinion and to conclude, without necessarily being obliged to request a formal opinion from SCAN, that the study amounted to major fresh evidence. Conclusion 299. Consequently, the Community institutions did not err when they took account of the new study on live rats without having obtained a second opinion on it from SCAN. (c) The fact that the conclusions and recommendations of international, Community and national bodies were taken into account (i) Arguments of the parties 300. Pfizer complains that the Community institutions based their risk assessment on certain conclusions and recommendations found in reports produced by various international, Community and national bodies and published over the years preceding adoption of the contested regulation. 301. In Pfizer's submission, those reports do not contain enough specific evidence relating to the risk associated with the use of virginiamycin to enable the Community institutions to carry out their risk assessment but deal with the problem of resistance to antibiotics in general. Any action taken in respect of virginiamycin should be founded not on general concerns but on the specific situation of virginiamycin. 302. The Council contends that those reports specifically concern the problem of resistance to antibiotics and the link between that phenomenon and the use of antibiotics as additives in feedingstuffs. It points out that virginiamycin is specifically mentioned in some of the reports. (ii) Findings of the Court 303. It is clear from the preamble to the contested regulation that, contrary to Pfizer's submission, the Community institutions relied principally for the purpose of their risk assessment of virginiamycin on certain aspects of the scientific analysis in the SCAN opinion, summarised at recitals 15 to 19 to the contested regulation, and on the new study on live rats. 304. However, it is evident from recital 23 to the contested regulation that the Community institutions took the conclusions and recommendations in the various reports from international, Community and national bodies into account only as supplementary material and did so for the purposes of their analysis of all the products affected by the measure. 305. It follows, first, that, contrary to what Pfizer in essence submits, the Community institutions did not replace a scientific analysis of the risks associated with the use of virginiamycin by references to the conclusions and recommendations of the various reports. Nor did they base their decision to depart from the findings in the SCAN opinion on the conclusions in those reports: rather they based it principally on aspects of the SCAN opinion. 306. Second, the Court observes that even if those reports relate to the problem of resistance to antibiotics in general, they deal, in particular, with the possible implications of the use of antibiotics as additives in feedingstuffs. Furthermore, those reports specifically analyse the risks associated with the use of antibiotics, such as virginiamycin, which may entail cross-resistance to antibiotics used in human medicine. Last, in some of those reports, virginiamycin is specifically mentioned as one of the products whose use as a growth promoter might lead to a reduction in the effectiveness of certain antibiotics in human medicine. 307. Third, and more specifically, it is clear that the WHO report and the Copenhagen Recommendations, cited at recital 23 to the contested regulation, were adopted following wide consultation of a large number of scientists. It is also apparent from the Copenhagen Recommendations that representatives of the pharmaceutical industry attended the conference following which that report was adopted. The Court therefore has no reason to doubt that those reports were drawn up on the basis of the best scientific data available at international level. 308. Fourth, the same findings may be made as regards the reports of certain national specialist bodies, such as the Swedish report, the Netherlands report, the House of Lords report and the United Kingdom report (cited at paragraphs 36 and 46 above). Although, with the exception of the Swedish report, those documents are not referred to in the preamble to the contested regulation, the Council and the interveners supporting it nevertheless stated at the hearing that the Commission took account of those reports, which were brought to its notice in the context of the close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission within the Standing Committee. Mention is specifically made of the United Kingdom and Netherlands reports in the short report of the meeting of the Standing Committee held on 17 and 18 September 1998. 309. Consequently, there was nothing to preclude the Community institutions from taking account of those various reports in their assessment of the risks associated with virginiamycin. On the contrary, such an approach made it possible to ensure that the action taken by the Community institutions took account of the most recent results of international research. 310. It follows that the Community institutions did not err in that regard either. (d) Conclusion 311. In the light of the foregoing, it must be concluded that the Community institutions did not make the errors alleged by Pfizer when they made findings in respect of the relevant facts in this case. The Court must nevertheless consider whether the Community institutions made a manifest error of assessment when they concluded, on the basis of those facts, that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter constituted a risk to human health. 4. The errors which the Community institutions are alleged to have made in concluding that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter constituted a risk to human health (a) Introduction 312. Pfizer, supported by the parties intervening on its behalf, argues that the Community institutions were wrong to disregard the conclusions in the SCAN opinion and take the view that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter constituted a risk to human health and that preventive protective measures should be taken. The arguments put forward may be reordered in two claims. First, Pfizer claims that human resistance to streptogramins does not have any adverse effects on human health (b). Second, it submits that the Community institutions were not entitled, on the basis of the available scientific data, to find a link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans (c). 313. Before ascertaining whether these claims are well founded, the Court will first summarise the scientific background described in the documents before it and recall the purpose and scope of judicial review. 314. As regards the scientific background, the parties are in agreement that the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs constitutes a risk to human health only (i) if, owing to such use, resistance to that antibiotic develops in the animals concerned, (ii) if that resistance can be transferred from animals to humans and (iii) if, owing to the development of resistance in humans, the effectiveness of that antibiotic - or antibiotics of the same class - against certain dangerous infections in humans is eliminated or reduced. 315. It is apparent from the documents before the Court that Pfizer does not dispute that it is broadly accepted by scientists that a consequence of using antibiotics in general, and virginiamycin in particular, as growth promoters is to increase the pool of bacteria resistant to those products in animals. Even though Pfizer argues that there are other explanations for that phenomenon, it does not put forward any specific argument to challenge the conclusion drawn by the Community institutions in that regard in recital 18 to the contested regulation. Moreover, that conclusion was endorsed by SCAN in its opinion (comment on conclusion 1 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory). 316. Likewise, it is clear from the documents before the Court that Pfizer does not deny that there is a possibility of cross-resistance between virginiamycin, which is used solely as an additive in feedingstuffs, and other antibiotics of the same class, namely pristinamycin and Synercid. 317. However, Pfizer denies that the Community institutions had a proper scientific basis as regards the other aspects of the link which they found between the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans. Those other aspects are, first, the physical movement of resistant bacteria from animals to humans and, second, either the colonisation of the human organism by those bacteria or the transfer of resistance via transmission of genetic information. 318. In that regard, it is clear from the documents before the Court that, for a transfer of antimicrobial resistance from animals to humans to take place, resistant bacteria must first move physically from animals to humans. It is thought that the transfer could take place either via direct human contact with animal excrement or with water contaminated with those bacteria or via the food chain, which could happen if meat is contaminated with resistant bacteria when an animal is slaughtered in unhygienic conditions and if those bacteria survive both rinsing in the slaughterhouse and the preparation and cooking of the meat and pass into the human digestive system. 319. Once resistant bacteria have physically moved from animals to humans, the scientific reports submitted to the Court mention two ways in which actual resistance can be transferred to humans. The first involves resistant bacteria of animal origin colonising the human digestive system, i.e. surviving there and, if they are capable of doing so, causing infections (zoonotic bacteria). The second involves resistant bacteria of animal origin which, whether they are capable of causing infections or whether they are, in principle, harmless to humans (commensal bacteria, such as enterococci), transmit the resistance information ‘encoded’ in certain of their genes to bacteria normally present in humans which are themselves capable of causing infections (pathogens such as staphylococci). 320. In that regard, moreover, the parties are agreed that, at the time when the contested regulation was adopted, it was not yet scientifically established that the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs had or could have adverse effects on human health caused by a transfer of antimicrobial resistance from animals to humans. Pfizer nevertheless accepted that the possibility that use of that product would have such a consequence could not be definitively precluded either. 321. Referring to the terms employed at paragraph 147 above, Pfizer accepts that use of virginiamycin entails a ‘hazard’ to human health. However, it argues that the mere fact that a hazard, within the meaning of those terms, exists is not enough to justify withdrawing authorisation from a product on the basis of the precautionary principle. When questioned at the hearing, the Council stated that in the present case, the mere existence of a ‘hazard’ within the meaning of the abovementioned terms, associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter, would not have allowed it to adopt the contested regulation, since any modern pharmaceutical product has some hazards. 322. It is therefore necessary to examine whether, in the present case, the scientific evidence available to the Community institutions was sufficiently reliable and cogent for them to conclude that there was a risk, within the meaning of the term used in paragraph 147 above, associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter. 323. As regards the purpose and scope of judicial review, the Court observes, first, that in support of their respective arguments, the parties have, both during the written procedure and at the hearing, submitted for review by the Court a large number of arguments of a scientific and technical nature, based on a large number of studies and scientific opinions from eminent scientists. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that where, as in such a situation, the Community institutions are required to make complex assessments of a scientific and technical nature, judicial review is restricted and does not imply that the Community judicature can substitute its assessment for that of the Community institutions (see paragraphs 168 and 169 above). 324. Second, in so far as the parties have referred to information which was not available at the time when the contested regulation was adopted, it must be borne in mind that the assessment made by the Community institutions can be challenged only if it appears incorrect in the light of the elements of fact and law which were available to them at the time when the contested regulation was adopted (see, to that effect, Wuidart and Others, cited at paragraph 169 above, paragraph 14, and Joined Cases C-133/93, C-300/93, C-362/93 Crispoltoni and Others [1994] ECR I-4863, paragraph 43, and Case T-6/99 ESF Elbe-Stahlwerke Feralpi v Commission [2001] ECR II-1523, paragraph 93, and the case-law cited there). It follows that, subject to that condition, the information in question cannot be taken into account for the purposes of the review of the legality of the contested regulation. (b) The adverse effects on human health should streptogramin resistance develop in humans 325. Pfizer maintains, in essence, that even if streptogramin resistance were to develop in humans because of a transfer of resistance, that would not have any adverse effects on human health. It puts forward three lines of argument. 326. First, Pfizer draws attention to the fact that the SCAN opinion concluded that in Denmark existing strategies for coping with infections caused by enterococci and staphylococci remained successful and that the use of streptogramins for the treatment of such infections was not essential. It is apparent from recitals 17 and 21 to the contested regulation that the Community institutions disregarded that aspect of the SCAN opinion and concluded that it was necessary to preserve the effectiveness of streptogramins in human medicine for use as a treatment of last resort. 327. The Court observes in limine that SCAN has confirmed, and Pfizer has not disputed, that the development of resistance to antibiotics in bacteria in general, and among enterococci and staphylococci in particular, has been observed worldwide and constitutes a serious threat to human health. 328. Further, as regards more specifically the question of the use of antibiotics belonging to the class of streptogramins to fight infections caused by enterococci and staphylococci, it is clear from the SCAN opinion that streptogramins were not used for the treatment of human infections in Denmark and that, in any event, those antibiotics were not essential for such treatment. Moreover, SCAN noted that in that country infections caused by staphylococci could be treated with the assistance of other antibiotics, notably methicillin. It went on to confirm that a significant increase in methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRSA) had been observed in certain Member States. In that regard, Synercid, although not yet authorised in Europe at that time, could be used as a treatment of last resort. SCAN noted that that development was relatively unimportant in Denmark and that therefore ‘at present, existing strategies for coping with hospital infections caused by enterococci or staphylococci remain successful in Denmark and the [supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory] contains no evidence that existing therapies are likely to be compromised in the short term’ (comment on conclusion 8 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory). 329. It follows, first, that the SCAN finding to which Pfizer draws attention relates solely to the situation in Denmark and is not based on an analysis of the problem at Community level. The Court held at paragraph 184 above that in the procedure laid down in Article 24 of Directive 70/524 it is the responsibility of the Community institutions to carry out a risk assessment at Community level. 330. Second, it is apparent from the SCAN opinion that the presence of staphylococci and enterococci resistant to the antibiotics used until now for the treatment of infections caused by those bacteria, in particular vancomycin, was perceived as a major problem in human medicine, in particular in the United States but also, to a lesser extent, in certain Member States. Moreover, that finding is corroborated by various reports by international, Community and national bodies produced to the Court. Synercid was, in that regard, seen as a treatment of last resort and preservation of its effectiveness was perceived as imperative. By way of example, in the House of Lords report, the situation was described as follows: ‘Enterococci have natural resistance to numerous antibiotics, and cause serious infections in hospitalised immune-impaired patients. Infection with enterococci resistant to the glycopeptide vancomycin (VRE) is almost untreatable ... The [WHO] report expresses concern at the possibility of increased dissemination of glycopeptide resistance genes to Enterococci faecalis and their spread to other gram-positive organisms, particularly to MRSA for which vancomycin is the drug of last resort’ (paragraph 3.20 of the report). 331. It follows that, analysed at Community level, the development of streptogramin-resistant enterococci and staphylococci in humans was considered a serious threat to public health. 332. Third, as Pfizer points out, it is clear from the SCAN opinion and the various reports produced to the Court that the use of streptogramins in human medicine was still relatively unimportant in Europe, particularly because the rate of increase of VRE and MRSA had been lower than in the United States. 333. However, as Pfizer has itself recognised, that phenomenon has increased in recent years. 334. Furthermore, in response to questions put by the Court, the experts stated at the hearing that anti-microbial resistance has significant long-term effects on public health in that it is a virtually irreversible phenomenon and, therefore, is eliminated, if ever, only long after the antibiotic has ceased to be added to feedingstuffs. 335. The Community institutions cannot be criticised for having taken account of those factors in their assessment at Community level of the risks associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter (see paragraph 153 above). From that perspective, contrary to the view held by SCAN, which had ruled out any ‘immediate’ risk, the Community institutions could properly adopt a cautious approach and pursue the objective of preserving the effectiveness of products used in human medicine even though, at the time when the contested regulation was adopted, they were little used in that sphere. 336. Pfizer's first line of argument must therefore be rejected. 337. Second, Pfizer submits that, since the adoption of the contested regulation, the pharmaceutical industry has made unceasing efforts to develop new antibiotics effective in the treatment of bacteria which have become resistant to antibiotics available on the market. In particular, in the United States a new antibiotic, linezolid, has already been authorised for the treatment of E. faecium bacteria resistant to other antibiotics. Consequently, even if streptogramin resistance were to be observed in some patients, they could be treated with the new product. 338. In that regard, the Court observes that, when the experts called to give evidence for the institutions were questioned at the hearing, they emphasised, without being challenged on that point by Pfizer's experts, the great importance in human medicine of the possibility of using several antibiotics to treat the same infection. Therefore, the Court must conclude that, given the fact that the new antibiotics mentioned by Pfizer, in particular linezolid, were not authorised in the Community at the time when the contested regulation was adopted and also the ever-increasing difficulty of creating new antibiotics effective in human medicine, and in view of the increasingly limited number of such antibiotics, the Community institutions could properly take the view that it was necessary to preserve the greatest possible number of antibiotics capable of being used in human medicine, irrespective of the existence of other products. 339. Third, Pfizer observes that E. faecium bacteria are, as a general rule, harmless and cause infections only in patients who already have a defective immune system, such as patients suffering from the human immunodeficiency virus (‘HIV’) or being treated with immuno-suppressive drugs, for example transplant patients. Those patients could, in principle, be treated with other antibiotics and medical complications would arise only if the E. faecium bacteria had already developed resistance to every other antibiotic on the market. 340. The Court considers that that argument cannot undermine the validity of the objective pursued by the Community institutions of preserving the effectiveness of streptogramins for the treatment of those infections. The objective of ensuring that patients with a reduced immune system, in particular those suffering from the greatest health scourge of modern times, HIV, are effectively treated is consonant with the objective laid down in the Treaty, namely ensuring a high level of human health protection. Similarly, there are no reasonable grounds for denying that preservation of the effectiveness of medicinal products capable of being used for the treatment of patients needing a particularly high level of protection, such as transplant patients, is a valid objective. The fact that an antibiotic can only be important in the treatment of a particular category of patients can on no account be a valid reason for not taking all the measures necessary to ensure that it continues to be effective. 341. For all those reasons, the Court must conclude that the Community institutions did not make a manifest error of assessment when they found that the development of streptogramin-resistant enterococci and staphylococci was a serious threat to human health and that it was necessary, in order to prevent that adverse effect for human health from materialising, to preserve the effectiveness of streptogramins so that they may be used now or in the future in human medicine. Consequently, Pfizer's argument that the increase of streptogramin resistance in humans does not entail any adverse effects for human health cannot be accepted. (c) The link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans 342. Recitals 19 and 20 to the contested regulation reveal that when they accepted that there was a link between the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans, the Community institutions relied, in the main, on the results of recent scientific research submitted by the Danish authorities in support of their safeguard measure. Pfizer submits, in essence, that that research could not constitute a proper scientific basis. Before the merits of Pfizer's arguments are examined, it is appropriate to give a brief summary of the various pieces of scientific research. (i) Summary of the research referred to in recitals 19 and 20 to the contested regulation 343. With reference to the physical movement of resistant bacteria from animals to humans, the Community institutions referred to a scientific study described in the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory. In that study a significant number of virginiamycin-resistant E. faecium bacteria were detected in food originating from pigs (22%) and poultry (54%) in sales outlets in Denmark. The study had shown that there was a high level of human exposure to resistant bacteria through the food chain. 344. Furthermore, the Community institutions cited an observation carried out by scientists from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, in particular A.E. van den Bogaard, at a farm in the Netherlands, involving the farmer and his poultry. In that case, two strains of E. faecium bacteria with the same genetic fingerprint and resistant to virginamycin and pristinamycin were detected, one in the farmer's cells and the other in the excrement of one of the turkeys on his farm (‘the Dutch farm observation’). In recital 19 to the contested regulation, the Council noted in respect of that observation that ‘even if general conclusions about the transfer of resistant enterococci from animals to humans should not be drawn from a single case, the Commission sees it as an indication that this might be confirmed by other cases in the future’. That observation also demonstrated that the human digestive system can be colonised by resistant bacteria originating in animals. 345. The Community institutions also relied on two scientific studies carried out in laboratory conditions during which the transfer of the sat A gene, which confers resistance to virginiamycin on the bacteria concerned, between isogenic strains of E. faecium was examined. In the first study the sat A gene was transferred in vitro from a resistant E. faecium bacterium originating in animals to a non-resistant isogenic bacterium, i.e. one with a similar genetic structure (‘the in vitro study of genetic transfer’). In the second study (the new study on live rats referred to at paragraph 54 above), which was submitted by the Danish authorities only after the SCAN opinion had been delivered, a transfer of that gene between isogenic strains of E. faecium bacteria was demonstrated in live rats, more specifically in the gastro-intestinal tract of rats under experimental conditions. 346. Finally, the Community institutions cited a number of observations described in the Status Report, which indicated that strains of enterococci with genetic factors conferring resistance to virginiamycin existed within the human population. (ii) Arguments of the parties 347. Pfizer claims essentially that the various pieces of scientific research cited by the Community institutions in recitals 19 and 20 to the contested regulation were not apt to prove that a risk existed, within the meaning of the terms cited above. 348. As regards the Dutch farm observation, Pfizer reiterates the criticism made by SCAN on 10 July 1998 in its opinion, i.e. that it is not possible to conclude from this single and anecdotal incident that E. faecium bacteria detected in the farmer originated in one of his turkeys. They could just as easily have a different common source. Similarly, the bacteria could have been transferred from the farmer to his poultry and not the other way around. 349. For the same reason, in Pfizer's submission, the observations relating to the presence of resistant bacteria both in meat intended for consumption and in the human population do not prove conclusively that those bacteria were actually of animal origin. 350. As regards the in vitro study of genetic transfer and the new study on live rats, Pfizer relies on the SCAN opinion, in which SCAN pointed out major methodological weaknesses of the experiments and gaps in the scientific data. SCAN's comments on the in vitro study of genetic transfer show that the same strain of E. faecium bacteria was used as donor and recipient. Given that the probability of a gene transfer is directly related to the similarity of the genetic material of the donor and recipient strains, the use of identical strains significantly increases the probability that gene transfer will occur. Thus there is nothing surprising in the fact that two identical strains of bacteria should reciprocally transfer genetic material between them. The same objections could, in Pfizer's submission, be made in respect of the new study on live rats, in so far as it was conducted under artificial conditions, since the rats used did not have the intestinal flora of animals living in natural conditions. Pfizer therefore maintains that that study, although carried out with live rats, adds little to the first in vitro experiment. 351. Pfizer submits that those observations and experiments could in reality serve only as working hypotheses, incapable of demonstrating that a risk existed. Before taking a decision as to whether to withdraw or maintain the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs, the Community institutions should have awaited completion of other scientific research in order to ascertain whether those hypotheses were correct. 352. Before they acted, the Community institutions should, like the competent authorities in the United States and Australia, have embarked on a research programme designed to ascertain the level of exposure of meat to resistant bacteria in order to obtain reliable data enabling the level of exposure to be quantified and the effectiveness of hygiene measures to be assessed. 353. Likewise, it was also necessary to verify the results of the Dutch farm observation by conducting other observations and experiments in order to be in a position to endorse or rebut the results obtained, which Pfizer deems insufficiently conclusive (Professor I. Phillips stated at the hearing: ‘It's an important observation that really needs experimental exploration’). Without such research, the movement of virginiamycin-resistant E. faecium bacteria cannot be scientifically proved or disproved, nor can the prevalence of the phenomenon be measured. 354. As regards the in vitro study of genetic transfer and the new study on live rats, Pfizer submits that observations and experiments should have been carried out in the real world rather than, as was the case with those two studies, in artificial laboratory conditions. Thus, responding to a written question from the Court, Pfizer maintained: ‘The key question, however, is whether this transfer actually happens in the real world’. 355. In Pfizer's submission, the fact that streptogramin resistance has developed in humans can be more plausibly explained by factors other than those connected with the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs. 356. First, referring in particular to the SCAN opinion, Pfizer argues that research carried out in France and the United States has shown that, in spite of the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter, streptogramins have remained very largely effective in human medicine in those countries. Similarly, Pfizer points out that although virginiamycin has been used for more than 30 years, there is no known case of a patient being infected by streptogramin-resistant E. faecium bacterium of animal origin. 357. It goes on to point out that it is well known that certain bacteria, in particular some enterococci, E. faecalis, are naturally resistant to streptogramins. Similarly, the development of resistance in humans is, to a large extent, due to the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine. 358. The Council contends, however, that the various pieces of research referred to in recitals 19 and 20 to the contested regulation together amounted to a coherent body of evidence suggesting that there was a link between the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans. It denies that the arguments put forward by Pfizer are capable of showing that proposition to be unfounded. (iii) Findings of the Court 359. In the light of the foregoing, it is appropriate to consider whether the Community institutions could properly disregard the SCAN opinion and conclude that, by virtue of the various scientific studies referred to in recitals 19 and 20 to the contested regulation, they had a proper scientific basis as regards the various stages of the transfer of streptogramin resistance from animals to humans. 360. The Court observes in limine that Pfizer (like SCAN in its opinion) does not exclude the possibility that the various stages of the transfer of resistance, as summarised at paragraph 313 et seq. above, may occur. 361. Supported by Professor I. Phillips, Pfizer stated at the hearing that there was no doubt that the physical movement of resistant bacteria from animals to humans might occur. Likewise, in response to a written question put by the Court, Pfizer confirmed that it was not denying that genetic material conferring resistance to virginiamycin could be transferred between isogenic strains of E. faecium bacteria under experimental conditions in a laboratory. Pfizer also acknowledges that the results obtained can be explained by the transfer of resistance from animals to humans, even though, in its opinion, other explanations are more plausible. 362. Similarly, the Court observes that Pfizer does not question the relevance of the various observations and experiments cited by the institutions but rather the methods applied and the conclusions drawn from them. 363. As regards the discovery of resistant bacteria on meat intended for consumption, Pfizer has even confirmed, in answer to the Court's written question, that the level of resistant organisms on meat intended for human consumption was a critical component in the assessment of risks to human health associated with that food. Similarly, when questioned at the hearing, Professor I. Phillips confirmed that the Dutch farm observation was, in itself, ‘impeccable’. Finally, Pfizer does not question that the in vitro experiment on gene transfer and the new study on live rats show that E. faecium bacteria can exchange genetic material conferring resistance to virginiamycin amongst themselves, as indeed SCAN confirmed in its opinion (comment on conclusion 4 of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory). 364. In addition, Pfizer affirms that, as is also clear from the SCAN opinion, other observations and experiments, similar to those referred to in recital 19 to the contested regulation, had already been carried out in respect of other antibiotics. 365. In particular, it is clear from the documents before the Court that observations had been conducted in 1997 on the resistance of E. faecium bacteria to another antibiotic, vancomycin (Study by A.E. van den Bogaard and others entitled ‘Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Turkeys and Farmers’, The New England Journal of Medicine, 1997). That study, which was submitted to the Commission by Pfizer in its observations on the Status Report and evaluated in the reports submitted by the Danish authorities and which formed the subject-matter of a number of scientific reports drawn up before the adoption of the contested regulation and submitted to the Court, concludes: ‘These findings confirm the high prevalence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in healthy persons living in areas where avoparcin [the related antibiotic] is used as an antimicrobial growth promoter’. 366. When asked at the hearing whether those studies were relevant to the instant case, Professor I. Phillips, giving evidence for Pfizer, confirmed that that observation ‘contributes to the general case’. 367. Similarly, as regards the possibility of a transfer of resistance by means of a temporary colonisation of the human digestive system by resistant bacteria, the Court observes that a study published in 1997 by M. Blom and others entitled ‘Ingestion of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium Strains of Food [of] Animal Origin by Human Healthy Volunteers’ reveals that ‘[i]ngestion of VRE strains of food [of] animal origin by healthy volunteers may result in temporary intestinal growth and colonisation. Since vancomycin resistance determinants are transferable, there is a potential risk for transferring vancomycin resistance to the commensal and pathogenic flora during a temporary colonisation’. Although, as Pfizer submits, that study failed to prove that that method of resistance transfer actually occurs, it also failed to disprove the results of research carried out in respect of streptogramins, as Pfizer acknowledged at the hearing. 368. Likewise, a study carried out in 1997 by Woodford and others entitled ‘Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin-resistant enterococci’ described observations relating to the resistance of vancomycin-resistant enterococci. The Swedish report referred to at paragraph 46 above summarised that study as follows: ‘Woodford and co-workers (1997) reported streptogramin resistance in vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) isolated from raw chicken (3 isolates) and from a hospital patient (1 isolate) in the UK. The resistance trait included cross-resistance to macrolides and lincosamides and was transferable to other enterococci. The authors commented on the fact that no streptogramin is yet licensed for use in human therapy in [the] UK, whereas virginiamycin is widely used for growth promotion in animals. A reservoir of streptogramin resistance may be present in animal bacteria. Since infection with VRE is one of the main indications for quinpristin-dalfopristin [synercid] therapy, acquisition of streptogramin resistance by those organisms is most alarming’ (see page 308 of the Swedish report). 369. The Court concludes that the Community institutions had a scientific basis on which to reach a decision, since they could draw on some results of the most recent scientific research on the matter. 370. That being so, Pfizer disputes that that scientific basis was adequate or appropriate. It submits that those various pieces of scientific research did not amount to adequate scientific evidence of a risk associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter. 371. Pfizer argues essentially that the research in question consisted exclusively of observations and experiments which were not scientifically controlled and that no definitive conclusions can be drawn from the results obtained. Relying in particular on the SCAN opinion, Pfizer submits that that research does not provide a definitive answer to the question whether bacteria discovered on meat intended for consumption or in the digestive system of the Dutch farmer were actually of animal origin. Similarly, Pfizer maintains that it is not possible to determine conclusively from those studies whether the cases examined are isolated cases - as it believes is more plausible and as SCAN maintained (‘anecdotal’, ‘unsound and without foundation’) - or whether, on the contrary, the cases examined are evidence of a widespread phenomenon in natural conditions. 372. The Court observes that the weaknesses in the various observations and experiments are not disputed by the defendant, which does not even contend that they admit of scientific certainty or allow any definitive conclusions to be drawn. On the contrary, the parties even seem to be agreed on the reasons for those weaknesses. 373. At the hearing, Professor P. Courvalin, giving evidence for the Community institutions, explained that, inasmuch as E. faecium bacteria are found in huge numbers everywhere in the environment, it is physically impossible to retrace their origin with any certainty. Professor I. Phillips, for Pfizer, said more or less the same thing when he stated in essence that, for the same reason, (‘It's all over the place. It's in vegetables, it's in fish, it's in all sorts of things that have not been explored’) it was in practice extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prove the origin of an E. faecium bacterium in an individual case. 374. Likewise, it is apparent from the documents before the Court that the difficulty, even the impossibility, of retracing the origin of E. faecium bacteria detected on meat intended for consumption and in the human population had already been raised in the course of the procedure before the Commission culminating in adoption of the contested regulation. In particular, in its submission on the conclusions of the supplementary report from the Danish Veterinary Laboratory, Pfizer stated: ‘A potential pathway exists from animal to food either as a result of contamination of the natural environment (e.g. salad) or faecal contamination of carcasses during slaughter and subsequent inadequate cooking before eating. It is much more difficult to show that this movement truly occurs. In reality ... it is impossible to fully retrace the path of contamination to the animal. Contamination detected at any point could have come from an extraneous source ..., a retrospective study cannot be initiated to categorically determine the original source’ (page 18). 375. Similarly, as regards experiments relating to gene transfer, Professor P. Courvalin explained at the hearing, without being challenged by Pfizer's expert witnesses, that, given the large number of bacteria in both the human and animal digestive system, it was physically impossible to observe a gene transfer between two bacteria in natural conditions outside the laboratory (‘You cannot pick up two bacteria in flagrante delicto’). 376. In those circumstances, the Court must consider whether, as Pfizer maintains in reliance on the SCAN opinion, the Community institutions were required to wait until additional scientific research of the type indicated by Pfizer had been carried out or whether, despite the weaknesses of the available research and disregarding the conclusions of the SCAN opinion, they could conclude on the basis of that research that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter involved a risk to human health. 377. In that regard, it is appropriate to bear in mind, first, that, when SCAN concluded that the scientific research in question did not justify the safeguard measure taken by the Danish authorities, it, in essence, maintained that although broadly it shared the authorities' concerns, it nevertheless took the view that a full risk assessment should be carried out on the basis of quantitative evidence of the extent of transfer of antimicrobial resistance and the significance of that phenomenon within the overall use of antibiotics (see the SCAN conclusions cited at paragraph 53 above). It added that ‘any risk that might be posed in the future by the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter will not materialise in the time required to make such an evaluation and most probably not for some years afterwards. In the meantime monitoring initiated by the Danish Government and the EU will be able to detect any significant increases in glycopeptide and streptogramin resistance in enterococci and staphylococci should that occur.’ 378. Second, the consequence of Pfizer's argument is that the real purpose of the research which, it submits, should have been carried out before a measure was taken with regard to virginiamycin is to determine conclusively, from experiments conducted in natural conditions, the origin of streptogramin-resistant bacteria detected on meat intended for human consumption and in the human digestive system. A further consequence of that argument is that, in Pfizer's submission, the research should have established whether a transfer between bacteria present in humans of genes conferring streptogramin resistance was possible and the degree of propagation of such genes. 379. Questioned at the hearing about the proof which should, in its submission, have been adduced to justify withdrawing the authorisation of virginiamycin, Pfizer stated: ‘It would be proven with the first infection, or with the first proof of colonisation, or the first proof of transfer in a human’. Professor M.A. Pfaller expressed a similar view when he wrote in the scientific opinion submitted by Pfizer: ‘Caution and common sense would dictate that whenever possible, utilisation of agents that represent a therapeutic class as growth promoter should be avoided. However, this is only true if those agents have been documented to create strains of potential human pathogens that are resistant to the therapeutic agent and have been shown to be transmitted (organism or resistance gene) from the animal or food source to humans’. 380. Similarly, at the hearing, Pfizer explained that if in November 1998 a patient had been infected with an E. faecium bacterium and if that bacterium had turned out to be resistant to streptogramins, virginiamycin would have had to be removed very rapidly from the market, since in that case adverse effects on health would have been established. However, since, in Pfizer's submission, neither transfer nor infection had ever been observed, the whole question is one of pure speculation. 381. The Court finds that both the view taken by SCAN in its opinion and the arguments put forward by Pfizer are based on an incorrect interpretation of the precautionary principle. 382. First, it must be borne in mind that, when the precautionary principle is applied, the fact that there is scientific uncertainty and that it is impossible to carry out a full risk assessment in the time available does not prevent the competent public authority from taking preventive protective measures if such measures appear essential, regard being had to the level of risk to human health which the public authority has decided is the critical threshold above which it is necessary to take preventive measures. 383. Therefore, Pfizer cannot reasonably criticise the Community institutions for basing themselves on scientific studies which did not admit of scientific certainty as to the link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of resistance to that product in man. Likewise, contrary to the claim made by Pfizer in reliance on the SCAN opinion, since the scientific data available were inadequate, it was not necessary to carry out a full scientific risk assessment before taking preventive measures in respect of the product (see paragraph 160 above). 384. Second, the Court held at paragraph 141 above that the Community institutions were not required, for the purpose of taking preventive action, to wait for the risk to become a reality and for any adverse effects to materialise. 385. In contrast to the view expressed by SCAN in its opinion, the Community institutions were entitled to take action on the basis of the precautionary principle before quantitative evidence of the extent of the problem posed by the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs was available. Research aimed at obtaining that evidence has as its purpose to observe and analyse the transfer of antimicrobial resistance from animals to humans and, above all, the extent of such transfer and, thus, the reality and the seriousness of any adverse effects of using virginiamycin, which the precautionary principle is specifically intended to prevent. 386. If the Community institutions were unable to take any preventive protective measures until such research was completed, the precautionary principle, the aim of which it to prevent the occurrence of any such adverse effects, would be rendered devoid of purpose. 387. The precautionary principle allows the competent public authority to take, on a provisional basis, preventive protective measures on what is as yet an incomplete scientific basis, pending the availability of additional scientific evidence. As the Court held at paragraph 161 above, the competent public authority must weigh up its obligations and decide either to wait until the results of more detailed scientific research become available or to act on the basis of the scientific information available. Having taken account, first, of the seriousness of the repercussions should the risk of streptogramin resistance being transferred from animals to humans become a reality and, second, of the results of the scientific research examined above, the Court concludes that the Community institutions did not make a manifest error of assessment when they came to weigh up their obligations. 388. Contrary to what Pfizer submitted at the hearing, the Community institutions were entitled to take preventive protective measures before proof was provided of the first colonisation of the human intestinal system by streptogramin-resistant bacteria of animal origin or of the first case of a transfer of streptogramin resistance from animals to humans. Still less were the Community institutions obliged to await the first case of human infection by a streptogramin-resistant bacterium of animal origin, let alone the first human death to occur when such an infection proved untreatable owing to the development of resistance. 389. In the light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the Community institutions did not exceed the bounds of the discretion conferred on them by the Treaty when they took the view that the various experiments and observations referred to in recitals 19 and 20 to the contested regulation were not mere conjecture but amounted to sufficiently reliable and cogent scientific evidence for them to conclude that there was a proper scientific basis for a possible link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans. 390. In those circumstances, Pfizer's arguments that the development of streptogramin resistance in humans can be more plausibly explained by other factors cannot be accepted. 391. Relying on the SCAN opinion and the advice of Professor Casewell and Professor Pugh, Pfizer has, admittedly, put forward a number of factors which could be advanced to counter the argument that there is a link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans. In particular, Pfizer has drawn attention to research in France and in the United States which shows that in those countries streptogramins continued to be very effective although virginiamycin had been used there as an additive in feedingstuffs for many years. Similarly, Pfizer maintained that some bacteria had a certain level of natural resistance, which was one plausible explanation for the level of streptogramin resistance observed. 392. However, Pfizer does not claim that those arguments prove conclusively that there is no link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans. They merely demonstrate that the existence of such a link is ‘very unlikely’ and that other ‘plausible explanations’ existed. Furthermore, the Council and the interveners challenged the merits of Pfizer's arguments relying, in their turn, on experts. 393. It is not for the Court to assess the merits of either of the scientific points of view argued before it and to substitute its assessment for that of the Community institutions, on which the Treaty confers sole responsibility in that regard. In the light of the foregoing, the Court nevertheless finds that the parties' arguments, supported in each case by the opinions of eminent scientists, show that there was great uncertainty, at the time of adoption of the contested regulation, about the link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans. Since the Community institutions could reasonably take the view that they had a proper scientific basis for a possible link, the mere fact that there were scientific indications to the contrary does not establish that they exceeded the bounds of their discretion in finding that there was a risk to human health. 394. Finally, it is apparent from the documents before the Court that, at the time when the contested regulation was adopted, other scientists and specialist bodies had taken a different view from that of SCAN and the experts called by Pfizer. 395. The WHO report, referred to at paragraph 37 above, which was adopted in October 1997 following a working meeting attended by 522 specialists from 42 different countries, states that despite the uncertainty ‘there is enough evidence to cause concern’. In particular, the report states (p. 6): ‘Due to the limited number of agents available for the treatment of glycopeptide-resistant enterococci, antimicrobial agents not previously used in humans are being sought, including drugs from classes currently used as growth promoters in animals. Therefore the selection of further resistance in enterococci is undesirable, e.g. streptogramin resistance due to use of virginiamycin as a feed additive in animals.’ 396. Similarly, the Copenhagen recommendations include the following passage: ‘For many years antibiotics have been used in animal husbandry as growth promoters. The potential for resistance development is our particular concern where similar or closely related antibiotics are or will be developed for use both as growth promoters and for the treatment of human infectious disease. The workshop recognised that this was a controversial subject. The large majority of the workshop considered the use of antibiotics for growth promotion was not justified and agreed with the opinion of the WHO expert meeting that “increased concerns regarding risks to human health resulting from the use of antimicrobial growth promoters indicate that it is essential to have a systematic approach towards replacing growth promoting antimicrobials with safer non-antimicrobial alternatives”; and recommendations from the Economic and Social Committee of the EU (ESC), that “the emphasis should be first and foremost on limiting the use of antibiotics that can provoke cross resistance to drugs that are or will become relevant to human health care”. Several members felt that before an antibiotic is permitted as a growth promoter, its lack of any risk for human health should be demonstrated. The workshop was, however, unanimous that the use of an antibiotic as a growth promoter should be stopped whenever there was clear evidence of a significant risk to human health from such usage.’ (Page 35 of the recommendations). 397. Following a thorough analysis of the available scientific data, the authors of the Swedish report came to the following conclusion regarding virginiamycin: ‘Increased resistance to ... virginiamycin would hamper the therapeutic use of substances from these classes in both animals and humans. Exposure of bacteria to ... virginiamycin ... selects for resistant strains, usually carrying one or several transmissible resistance determinants. In order not to further diminish their therapeutic value, [virginiamycin] should be restricted to therapeutic use ...’ 398. Following a thorough analysis of the available scientific data based on an 11-page list of the literature used, the 13 scientists on the Netherlands Health Council stated: ‘The Committee concludes that bacterial resistance development in humans is a health risk that cannot be neglected. In spite of the lack of knowledge concerning the extent to which the use of growth promoters in livestock farming has contributed towards this development, measures to reduce and finally stop the use of antibiotics as growth promoters are justified and necessary’ (see page 19 of the Netherlands report). 399. According to that body, there are particularly strong grounds for taking measures as regards products such as virginiamycin, for which the phenomenon of cross-resistance has been established. 400. Similar conclusions are drawn in the House of Lords report. It is apparent from that report that the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology heard a large number of experts, some of whom represented the industry concerned (one of them was in fact employed by Pfizer). In that report the Committee drew, inter alia, the following conclusions: ‘The new antibiotic Synercid is the PHLS's [Public Health Laboratory Service] best hope as a treatment for multi-resistant enterococci; but resistance to Synercid may have been induced already by use of the related growth promoter virginiamycin, used in pigs, poultry and cattle [paragraph 3.22 of the report] ... On the evidence before us ... we recommend that antibiotic growth promoters such as virginiamycin, which belong to classes of antimicrobial agent used (or proposed to be used) in man and are therefore most likely to contribute to resistance in human medicine, should be phased out, preferably by voluntary agreement between the professions and industries concerned, but by legislation if necessary ...’ (paragraph 11.20 of the report). (d) Conclusion 401. In the light of the foregoing, the Court concludes that Pfizer has not established that the Community institutions erred when they disregarded the SCAN opinion and concluded, on the basis of the scientific knowledge available at the time of adoption of the contested regulation, that the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs entailed a risk to human health. 402. It is clear, on the contrary, that the Community institutions could properly find that there were serious reasons, within the meaning of Article 3a(e) of Directive 70/524, concerning human health for restricting streptogramins to medical use. 403. For the same reasons, Pfizer's argument that the Community institutions applied the so-called ‘zero risk’ test in this case is also unfounded. 5. Conclusion 404. In view of all of the foregoing, the Court concludes that Pfizer has not succeeded in proving that the Community institutions made errors in their risk assessment. C - Errors in managing the risks associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter 405. As the Commission has indicated in its Communication on Consumer Health and Food Safety, the Community institutions must, when managing risks, determine the nature and scope of the measures to be taken in the light of the risk assessment. 406. On that point, it is appropriate to bear in mind that the Community institutions enjoy a broad discretion in that respect and that review by the Community judicature must be restricted to examining whether the exercise of such discretion is vitiated by a manifest error or a misuse of powers or whether the Community institutions clearly exceeded the bounds of their discretion (see paragraph 166 above). 1. Breach of the principle of proportionality and of the right to property, errors in the ‘cost/benefit’ analysis and misuse of powers (a) Introduction 407. Pfizer argues that the contested regulation was adopted in breach of the principle of proportionality inasmuch as it is a manifestly inappropriate means of achieving the objective pursued and the institutions, which had a choice between a number of measures, failed to choose the least onerous one. Putting forward essentially the same arguments, Pfizer also maintains that the contested regulation constituted a breach of the right to property and a misuse of powers. 408. Furthermore, in Pfizer's submission, the Community institutions made errors in the ‘cost/benefit analysis’, in which the costs and benefits to society expected from the action envisaged are compared with the costs and benefits which would apply if no action were taken. 409. Although the Council does not dispute that in a situation such as this the Community institutions were obliged to carry out such an analysis, it contends that no errors were made in that regard. 410. The Court considers that a cost/benefit analysis is a particular expression of the principle of proportionality in cases involving risk management. It therefore considers it appropriate to examine the merits of the arguments relating to that analysis together with those concerning breach of the principle of proportionality. 411. The Court observes in limine that the principle of proportionality, which is one of the general principles of Community law, requires that measures adopted by Community institutions should not exceed the limits of what is appropriate and necessary in order to attain the legitimate objectives pursued by the legislation in question, and where there is a choice between several appropriate measures, recourse must be had to the least onerous, and the disadvantages caused must not be disproportionate to the aims pursued (Fedesa and Others, cited at paragraph 115 above, paragraph 13). 412. Likewise, in matters concerning the common agricultural policy the Community legislature has a discretionary power which corresponds to the political responsibilities given to it by Article 40 of the EC Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 34 EC) and Article 43 of the Treaty. Consequently, the legality of a measure adopted in that sphere can be affected only if the measure is manifestly inappropriate regard being had to the objective which the competent institution is seeking to pursue (Fedesa and Others, cited at paragraph 115 above, paragraph 14). 413. In the light of the foregoing, the Court will examine the merits of the parties' arguments regarding the question, first, whether the contested regulation constitutes a manifestly inappropriate means of achieving the objective pursued (b), second, whether other less onerous measures could have been taken (c), third, whether the disadvantages caused by the contested regulation are disproportionate to the objective pursued (d), and, fourth, whether, in the framework of a cost/benefit analysis, those disadvantages are disproportionate by comparison with the advantages which would ensue if no action were taken (e). (b) Whether the withdrawal of the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs was manifestly inappropriate to the objective pursued (i) The excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine 414. Pfizer reiterates that in its view the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter does not constitute a risk to human health. At the very least, the possible or actual transfer of streptogramin resistance from animals to humans is still insufficiently documented. However, Pfizer maintains that there is a broad consensus among experts that the development of antibiotic resistance in humans is primarily due to the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine (see paragraph 34 above). The contested regulation was not apt to remedy the situation and was therefore a manifestly inappropriate means of achieving the objective which it pursued, i.e. preservation of the effectiveness of streptogramins in human medicine. 415. The Council does not dispute that the ban on the use of antibiotics as additives in feedingstuffs is only one of the measures for attaining the aim pursued. However, first, the measures envisaged by Pfizer to a large extent fall outside the powers of the Community institutions. Second, the fact that it may be necessary to adopt other measures does not support the conclusion that withdrawal of the authorisation of virginiamycin is inappropriate. 416. The Court observes that it has already held that the Community institutions did not make an error of assessment when they found that, despite existing uncertainty, they had a proper scientific basis on which to conclude that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter constituted a risk to human health. 417. It follows, first, that in such circumstances the Community institutions cannot be criticised for having taken protective measures without waiting for that scientific uncertainty to be dispelled. 418. Second, even on the assumption that the Community institutions had the power and the duty to adopt certain other measures to prevent an excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine, that could not affect the validity of the ban on virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs. 419. Furthermore, inasmuch as the Community institutions were entitled to conclude that there was a link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of resistance in humans, the ban on that use constitutes an appropriate, albeit not the only, means of preventing the effectiveness of streptogramins in human medicine from being reduced or even eliminated. In such circumstances, contrary to Pfizer's submission, the Community institutions could reasonably conclude that the adoption of measures intended to reduce or improve the use of antibiotics in human medicine was not an alternative to withdrawing the authorisation of virginiamycin but came under the head of possible further action. The fact that it might be necessary to adopt such further measures does not establish that the contested regulation was inappropriate. (ii) The negative effects of banning virginiamycin 420. In support of Pfizer, Fedesa and Fefana argue that a side-effect of using virginiamycin in feedingstuffs is improved animal welfare and that its use allows certain diseases to be prevented and the mortality rate in animals to be reduced. Consequently, drawing on reports published following the banning of antibiotics in Sweden and Finland, the interveners submit that the ban on virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs will result in more antibiotics being used for therapeutic purposes in animals. Contrary to what emerges from the reports, use of antibiotics cannot simply be replaced by an improvement in husbandry and hygiene. In a world in which intensive farming plays even more than before a major part in producing more meat at lower cost, that is simply unrealistic (‘wishful thinking’), at least in the majority of Member States. Furthermore, the ban on antibiotics which had been authorised as additives in feedingstuffs will result in alternative, unauthorised products being used by farmers, with considerable risk to consumers. In such circumstances, Fedesa and Fefana submit that the risk of the development of resistance in animals and, consequently, in humans, is greater than if antibiotics continued to be used as growth promoters. Therefore, the adoption of the contested regulation will actually result in an increased - instead of a reduced - risk of resistance developing in humans. 421. The Council, supported in particular by the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, rejects that argument. Those parties contend that experiments carried out in those countries following the ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters do not substantiate the arguments put forward by Fedesa and Fefana. On the contrary, better animal husbandry and more hygienic farm conditions, in particular, have made it possible to reduce the use of antibiotics for therapeutic purposes without affecting the competitiveness of farmers in those countries. 422. The Court notes in that regard that, particularly since Sweden banned the use of antibiotics as additives in 1986, several studies have been undertaken with a view to ascertaining the implications of the ban for animal health and for the productivity of farms. The results of those studies have been summarised in some of the reports of national bodies mentioned at paragraphs 36 and 46 above (the Swedish report, the Netherlands report and the House of Lords report (paragraphs 3.27 to 3.29)). They concur, to a large extent, with the results of a study carried out by G. Bories and P. Louisot, dated February 1998, and submitted by Fedesa and Fefana in support of their arguments. In their submission, that study was brought to the attention of the institutions during the procedure culminating in the adoption of the contested regulation. 423. It is clear from the various reports that, although significant difficulties with animal health arose in the first three years following Sweden's ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters, considerable progress has been made in terms of hygiene, so that those difficulties have been overcome in recent years. Furthermore, those reports reveal that the total consumption of antibiotics in farming has been reduced since the ban was introduced. Finally, those reports reveal that, after a phase when productivity declined sharply, Swedish farms have, with the exception of pig farms (- 2%), returned to pre-ban production levels. In total, the ban represented a loss of profit of SEK 74 million for pig farmers and SEK 12 million for poultry farmers. 424. However, as Fedesa and Fefana have pointed out, it is clear from those reports that the relatively positive results observed in Sweden can, in part, be explained by the low density of animals in that country (whose share of Community production does not exceed 1.5%), as compared with other Member States, such as Denmark, the Netherlands or France, which are large Community meat producers and which have more intensive farming methods. It is reckoned that the consequences of any ban in those countries on antibiotics as additives in feedingstuffs will be more negative than those observed in Sweden, both in terms of animal health (and thus in terms of antibiotic use for therapeutic or preventive purposes) and in economic terms (greater loss of profits). 425. However, those reports also reveal that alternative products exist, even though they are regarded by some experts as being less effective, and it is suggested in the reports that changes in farming methods should to some extent allow initial difficulties to be overcome. There are nevertheless differing points of view as regards the extent of those difficulties and the cost to society of such changes in farming methods. The report submitted by Fedesa and Fefana concludes that, although it is perfectly possible to rear animals without using antibiotics as growth promoters, doing so involves an increase both in the cost of meat production and in the quantities of antibiotics administered for therapeutic or preventive purposes. However, in its analysis of the possible consequences of a ban on antibiotics as growth promoters in the Netherlands, the Health Council of the Netherlands concluded that ‘events in Sweden since 1986 suggest ... that, although problems might initially occur, there is no reason why the therapeutic veterinary use of antibiotics should increase following the complete withdrawal of [antimicrobial growth promoters] ... [I]f appropriate countermeasures were taken, the effect on animal health and welfare would be small’ (paragraph 5.3.2 of the Netherlands report). 426. Second, as regards the argument that the ban on virginiamycin as a growth promoter would result in an increase in the use of certain antibiotics for therapeutic purposes in animals, it is reasonable to accept, as the Kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden and the Republic of Finland have submitted, that, even on the assumption that such a correlation were established, the potential effects of an increase in the use of antibiotics for therapeutic purposes would, to some extent, be offset by the fact that antibiotics were no longer being used as growth promoters. As the Council and the interveners have argued, the WHO report reveals that long-term use of a small quantity of antibiotics as growth promoters is alleged to be more dangerous, as regards the development of resistance, than using large doses administered over a shorter period (‘[l]ow-level, long-term exposure to antimicrobials may have a greater selective potential than short-term, full-dose therapeutic use’). 427. Furthermore, Pfizer has not substantiated its argument that the ban on virginiamycin will result in the unlawful use of unauthorised additives. That argument, supposing it to have some basis, does not call in question the lawfulness of the contested regulation but at the most brings to the attention of the competent authorities the fact that it may be necessary to take appropriate measures to guard against any such unlawful use. 428. Those facts do not establish that the ban on virginiamycin as a growth promoter is a manifestly inappropriate measure. Although in Pfizer's opinion, which is not however shared by all the experts, the ban makes it necessary to change farming methods to avoid too great a use of antibiotics and entails increased production costs for farmers, it is nevertheless the case that the taking of such a measure is a matter for the Community legislature, on which the Treaty confers responsibility for defining the policy which appears to it to be the most appropriate and power to put into effect, should it deem it necessary, a readjustment of the common agricultural policy. 429. It follows that the Court cannot accept Pfizer's argument that the contested regulation is manifestly inappropriate owing to the negative effects of withdrawing the authorisation of virginiamycin on animal health and, ultimately, human health. (iii) No action against imports from non-member countries 430. Pfizer and the interveners supporting it point out that the ban on the use of virginiamycin by Community farmers was not accompanied by a ban on imports of meat produced in non-member countries in which its use as a growth promoter is authorised. On the contrary, it is apparent from recent statistics that, since the adoption of the contested regulation, there has been a significant increase in imports from non-member countries of meat from animals raised on feed containing the substances banned by the contested regulation. 431. Pfizer also observes that, following adoption of the contested regulation, the Commission was asked by the Council to present a report before 30 June 1999 on the economic, legal and public health implications of the case at the international level. Pfizer submits that such a report has never been presented by the Commission, which suggests that the contested regulation is a manifestly inappropriate means of attaining the aim pursued. 432. The Council contends that the legality of a measure must be assessed in the light of the legal and factual situation existing at the date of its adoption. At that time, the Council had already asked the Commission to present a report on the measures to be taken at an international level. The fact that the Commission has not yet done so cannot affect the legality of the contested regulation. Furthermore, use of antibiotics as additives by European farmers is in itself more dangerous, since it is thought that the transfer of resistance can take place not only via the food chain but also in other ways. Finally, relatively little meat is imported from non-member countries and the problem caused by those imports is thus negligible. 433. The Court observes, first, that the fact that the Community institutions have not adopted measures at international level against imports of meat produced using virginiamycin as a growth promoter cannot of itself affect the validity of the ban on the use of virginiamycin within the Community. It would rather have to be established that in the absence of any such action the contested regulation was in itself a manifestly inappropriate means of achieving the objective pursued. 434. Pfizer has not adduced any proof that that is so. On the contrary, by way of guidance, the Council, in its defence, submitted to the Court statistics for 1999, whose accuracy and value as a record of imports made before the contested regulation was adopted have not been disputed by Pfizer. It is clear from those statistics that imports of meat from all types of animals amounted to only 2.3% of Community production (3.3% for bovine meat, 0.3% for pig meat, 2.5% for poultry). Furthermore, those statistics show that 82% of beef imports and 82% of pork imports came from countries where antibiotics were not authorised as growth promoters in feedingstuffs at that time. As regards poultry imports, the parties present conflicting data: according to the Council, only 28% of imports came from countries where virginiamycin was still authorised as a growth promoter for chickens; according to Pfizer, that figure was as high as 53%. 435. Replying to the institutions, Pfizer rightly states that, although it is acknowledged that the transfer of streptogramin resistance can take place via the food chain (see paragraph 318 above), those statistics do not indicate that the risk caused by those meat imports is ‘negligible’. 436. First of all, however, the Council's assertion that the risk is negligible is not consistent with what it did following adoption of the contested regulation, since it asked the Commission to consider the effect of those imports and to present a report in that regard. The fact that the Commission has not yet followed up that request cannot of itself call in question the lawfulness of the contested regulation. 437. Second, it is evident from those statistics that the institutions did not make a manifest error of assessment when they found that the risk to human health resulting from the import of meat produced using antibiotics as growth promoters was statistically much lower than the risk posed by meat produced with such additives in the Community. Furthermore, it is appropriate to bear in mind (see paragraph 318 above) that the transfer of resistance is thought to take place not only via the food chain but also by humans having direct contact with animal excrement or contaminated water, which does not apply in the case of imported meat. 438. Therefore, the risk to human health from imports of meat produced using antibiotics as additives must be regarded as distinct from the risk where antibiotics are used for the same purposes in the production of meat in the Community and as adding a risk to the latter risk. Consequently, the Community institutions cannot be criticised for having sought initially to eliminate the risk of a transfer of streptogramin resistance associated with the consumption of meat produced in the Community and having then gone on to assess the need for action at an international level. 439. Consequently, Pfizer has not succeeded in proving that, because no action was taken against imports of meat in whose production antibiotics were used as additives in feedingstuffs, the withdrawal of the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs in meat production in the Community was a manifestly inappropriate means of preventing the effectiveness of streptogramins in human medicine from being reduced or even eliminated. (iv) Conclusion 440. On the basis of the foregoing, the Court concludes that adoption of the contested regulation was not a manifestly inappropriate means of achieving the objective pursued. (c) The duty to take other, less onerous, measures 441. First, Pfizer submits that the institutions should have awaited the results of the various ongoing studies. Those detailed and expensive studies, some of which were conducted by the industry concerned in cooperation with the Commission, were aimed at finding out whether there was a link between the use of antibiotics, particularly virginiamycin, and the development of resistance to antibiotics in humans. In particular, virginiamycin was undergoing re-evaluation pursuant to Directive 96/51, which provided a suitable framework for examining the issue in detail. The successful conclusion of the studies was jeopardised by withdrawal of the authorisation of virginiamycin. By depriving scientists of the chance to collect data at source, the effect of the measure was to cut off the supply of data to be checked. Pfizer also observes, that, faced with the same problem, the competent authorities in the United States and Australia did not ban the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter but decided, in 1999 and 2000 respectively, to embark on detailed studies in order to gather all the relevant evidence, on the basis of which a decision could subsequently be taken. 442. In that regard, the Court observes in limine that in the course of the risk assessment the institutions found that there had been a considerable increase in the rate of development of antibiotic resistance during the years preceding adoption of the contested regulation and that, at the same time, the rate at which new antibiotics were put on the market had slowed down. In addition, it has been found that antimicrobial resistance is a virtually irreversible phenomenon (see paragraph 334 above). 443. In such circumstances, and given that the existence of a link between the use of antibiotics as growth promoters and the development of resistance in humans had not yet been scientifically proved but was nevertheless corroborated by a certain amount of reliable scientific data, it was for the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, to exercise its discretion and assume its political responsibilities in the face of a particularly complex and delicate situation. 444. The institutions cannot be criticised for having chosen to withdraw provisionally the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs, in order to prevent the risk from becoming a reality, and, at the same time, to continue with the research that was already under way. Such an approach, moreover, was consonant with the precautionary principle, by reason of which a public authority can be required to act even before any adverse effects have become apparent. 445. Contrary to Pfizer's submission, that finding is not undermined by the fact, even on the assumption that it is correct, that withdrawing the authorisation of virginiamycin had an adverse impact on the relevance and effectiveness of the studies in progress. When faced with such a choice, the institutions were entitled to give priority to human health protection over the successful conclusion of research in progress and to do so even if the research had, in part, been initiated by the institutions themselves and gave rise to considerable expense for the industry concerned. 446. Furthermore, the documents before the Court show that some of the studies in progress were completed despite adoption of the contested regulation. As regards more specifically the procedure for the re-evaluation of antibiotics during the transitional period, as provided for in Directive 96/51, it should be observed, first, that no provision of that directive prohibits the institutions from initiating the procedure for withdrawal of the authorisation of additives during the transitional period. Second, under Article 2 of the contested regulation, the Commission was obliged to re-examine the withdrawal before 31 December 2000 on the basis of the results of the different investigations concerning the induction of resistances connected with the use of the antibiotics concerned. 447. Likewise, the fact that the competent authorities in the United States and Australia decided to undertake fuller research before taking action does not in itself call in question the lawfulness of the contested regulation. First, the fact that certain authorities adopted a different approach from that taken by the Community institutions does not establish that the institutions' action is disproportionate. Second, as the Council correctly pointed out, risk management necessarily entails political choices which can vary from one society to another according to the threshold of risk deemed acceptable. 448. Consequently, the first argument cannot be upheld. 449. Second, Pfizer goes on to maintain that it would have been possible to provide for veterinary scrutiny of the amount of virginiamycin consumed by different animals or to lower the maximum age limits up to which virginiamycin could be used. At the very least, the institutions ought to have provided for the gradual phasing out of the use of virginiamycin. 450. In that connection, Pfizer has not established whether or how such measures would have allowed the objective pursued by the contested regulation, namely to protect human health, to be achieved. Pfizer and the parties which have intervened in support of it have not succeeded in rebutting the argument of the defendant and the interveners supporting it that such measures are ineffective since antimicrobial resistance is, in the view of the experts, a virtually irreversible phenomenon (see paragraph 334 above) and, therefore, is eliminated, if ever, only long after the antibiotic has ceased to be added to feedingstuffs. 451. Consequently, Pfizer has not shown that other, less onerous, measures existed and would have allowed the objective pursued by the contested regulation to be achieved. (d) The disproportionate nature of the disadvantages caused by comparison with the objective pursued, and breach of the right to property 452. Referring to the BSE judgment, cited at paragraph 114 above, Pfizer argues that withdrawing the authorisation of a product can be regarded as proportionate only if, as in the BSE case, there is a serious and identifiable risk causing great uncertainty and if there is evidence that the source against which action is to be taken is the most likely explanation of the risk faced. 453. Referring to the arguments submitted in connection with errors made in the risk assessment, Pfizer submits that, so far as virginiamycin is concerned, those conditions were not met at the time when the contested regulation was adopted. It further points out that it was the only producer of virginiamycin in the world, that the income from that product and substantial investment have been lost because of adoption of the contested regulation and that the regulation gives rise to significant job losses. Likewise, it points out that virginiamycin had been authorised for 30 years as a growth promoter and that the safety and efficacy of the product had been repeatedly checked. Consequently, in its submission, the immediate banning of the product as a growth promoter is a manifestly disproportionate measure. 454. For the same reasons the contested regulation also constitutes an interference with the right to property as recognised in Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Pfizer accepts that the objective of preserving human health is a legitimate reason for restricting that right. However, in this case, the restriction of its right to property, brought about by the contested regulation, is, in the light of the aim pursued, a disproportionate and intolerable interference with the rights of the owner, impinging upon the very substance of the right to property. 455. Finally, Pfizer submits that the institutions adopted the contested regulation with the sole aim of creating a favourable political impression in the eyes of the press and public opinion, which is tantamount to a misuse of powers. 456. The Court observes that the importance of the objective pursued by the contested regulation, i.e. the protection of human health, may justify adverse consequences, and even substantial adverse consequences, for certain traders (Case C-183/95 Affish [1997] ECR I-4315, paragraph 42, and Fedesa and Others, cited at paragraph 115 above, paragraph 17). The protection of public health, which the contested regulation is intended to guarantee, must take precedence over economic considerations (see Affish, cited above, paragraph 43). 457. Furthermore, it is settled case-law that although the freedom to pursue a trade or business forms part of the general principles of Community law, that principle does not amount to an unfettered prerogative but must be viewed in the light of its social function. Consequently, it may be restricted, provided that the restrictions imposed in fact correspond to objectives of general interest pursued by the Community and do not, in relation to the aim pursued, constitute a disproportionate and intolerable interference which would affect the very substance of the right so guaranteed (Case 44/79 Hauer [1979] ECR 3727, paragraph 23, and Case T-113/96 Dubois v Council and Commission [1998] ECR II-125, paragraphs 74 and 75). 458. In that regard, it is necessary to start by referring to the conclusions which the Court has drawn from its assessment of the errors which the institutions were alleged to have made in their risk assessment. 459. Then, account must be taken of the fact that the use of antibiotics is not strictly necessary in animal husbandry and that there are alternative methods of husbandry even if they can lead to higher costs for farmers and, ultimately, consumers. 460. In addition, withdrawal of the authorisation of virginiamycin as a growth promoter is a provisional measure which is subject to the Community institutions' duty of re-examination, as is clear from Article 2 of the contested regulation. Finally, it is apparent from Article 3 of the contested regulation that the ban on the use of virginiamycin was subject to a transitional period of six months, during which the product could continue to be marketed and used in those States which had not banned the product before entry into force of the measure, i.e. all the Member States apart from Sweden and Denmark. 461. From that perspective, the fact that the measure taken in the contested regulation entails serious economic consequences for Pfizer does not mean that it can be described as disproportionate for the purpose of challenging its lawfulness. 462. Pfizer's claim that the contested regulation was adopted with the sole aim of creating a favourable political impression in the press and with public opinion is not borne out by the evidence in the documents before the Court. Rather, those documents show that the contested regulation pursues, above all else, public health objectives. In any event, the restoration of consumer confidence can in such circumstances also be an important objective which may justify even substantial economic consequences for certain traders. 463. In those circumstances, the withdrawal by the contested regulation of the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs is not disproportionate, nor does it amount to an unwarranted restriction of the right freely to pursue a trade or profession or of the right to property, regard being had to the public interest objectives pursued by the Community legislature. (e) Errors in the cost/benefit analysis 464. According to Pfizer, if the elimination of an identified risk is very costly to society, not only in socio-economic terms but also in terms of well-being and ethics, or if it leads to situations entailing a higher risk or shifting the risk to another population group, less drastic measures, or even no measures at all, should be considered. 465. In that regard, Pfizer claims that the ban on virginiamycin has a negative impact not only on it but also on farmers and feedingstuff dealers. 466. Virginiamycin has been used for 30 years and, with some variation depending on species, by around 50% of farmers in the European Union; it enables production costs to be kept down. For certain species of animal virginiamycin is the only authorised product on the market. Banning the product will therefore cause farmers and feedingstuff dealers to lose revenue: those facts should have been taken into account in any decision as to what action was appropriate. Anprogapor and Asovac estimate that losses for pork and beef producers in Spain alone will amount to approximately EUR 30 million. They submit that if the Community institutions had carried out a cost/benefit analysis, they would have come down in favour of an alternative, less onerous, solution which would also have achieved the objective pursued. 467. Lastly, Pfizer, together with Fedesa and Fefana, emphasise the fact that the ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters has significant adverse effects on the environment, which ought also to have been taken into account by the Community institutions. In their view, use of those products as additives allows waste from farming, such as nitrogen and phosphates, to be reduced and makes it unnecessary to use other additives based on zinc oxide, a heavy metal causing extensive pollution. 468. The Court notes in limine that the contested regulation is founded on a political choice, in respect of which the Community institutions were required to weigh up, on the one hand, maintaining, while awaiting further scientific studies, the authorisation of a product which primarily enables the agricultural sector to be more profitable and, on the other, banning the product for public health reasons. 469. As regards Pfizer's complaint that the institutions, when making their policy choice, did not carry out a cost/benefit analysis, it is apparent from the documents before the Court that an assessment of that kind was made in several of the reports by international bodies which had been submitted to the institutions during the procedure culminating in adoption of the contested regulation and which were examined by the Standing Committee. In particular, the Netherlands report includes an assessment of the possible implications of banning antibiotics as growth promoters. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of Sweden's experience of the economic effects of ceasing to use antibiotics as growth factors can be found in the Swedish report. Similarly, it is clear from the conclusions in the Copenhagen Recommendations that the implications were extensively discussed by specialists from all the Member States, the Commission and the industry (pp. 8 and 9). 470. However, as regards Pfizer's claim that the institutions made errors when weighing up the various options, the Court observes that the legality of the contested regulation could be called in question only if the institutions had made a manifest error of assessment in deciding upon their policy. 471. In that regard, it is appropriate to begin by observing that public health, which the contested regulation is intended to protect, must take precedence over economic considerations (see paragraph 456 above). 472. Next, it is not disputed that use of antibiotics as growth promoters is not essential to meat production. Nor is it disputed that there were alternatives to that practice, even though, as Pfizer maintains, those alternatives make it essential to alter farming methods and may entail higher production costs and higher meat prices. However, there is nothing to suggest that the policy choice made by the institutions was unreasonable in that regard. 473. Furthermore, following the ban on virginiamycin, farmers could continue to use the four other antibiotics which the Council did not ban under the contested regulation. In that regard it is clear from the lists of antibiotics authorised as growth promoters in the Community that, for almost all the animals for which virginiamycin was authorised before adoption of the contested regulation, an alternative product continued to be authorised. 474. Finally, as regards the arguments concerning increased environmental pollution, it is appropriate to point out, as the Republic of Finland submitted in its statement in intervention, that it is not the ban on the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter, but a particular agricultural practice, that results in soil pollution and that other measures should be taken to resolve that problem on a broader scale. 475. It follows that the argument that errors were made in the cost/benefit analysis must also be rejected. (f) Conclusion 476. It follows from all the foregoing considerations that the contested regulation is not vitiated by the breaches and errors pleaded by Pfizer. 2. Breach of the principle of non-discrimination 477. Pfizer also submits that the contested regulation is vitiated by breach of the principle of non-discrimination since other antibiotics, some of which may be used in veterinary or perhaps even human medicine, were not banned. Also discriminatory is the fact that the institutions' approach was highly protective of health by comparison with the risk posed by the use of antibiotics as growth promoters, whilst other hazards to human health, such as that posed by tobacco, are not treated in the same way. 478. The Court observes that the principle of non-discrimination, which constitutes a fundamental principle of law, prohibits comparable situations from being treated differently or different situations from being treated in the same way, unless such difference in treatment is objectively justified (see, for instance, Case C-174/89 Hoche [1990] ECR I-2681, paragraph 25; Case C-354/95 National Farmers' Union and Others [1997] ECR I-4559, paragraph 61; the BSE judgment, cited at paragraph 114 above, paragraph 114; and Case 203/86 Spain v Council [1988] ECR 4563, paragraph 25). 479. In that regard, it is appropriate to point out that the lack of any action against the use of other substances, even if assumed to be unlawful, could not in itself affect the lawfulness of the ban on virginiamycin (see, to that effect, Safety Hi-Tech, cited at paragraph 152 above, paragraph 41). It has been held above that the institutions were entitled to withdraw the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs in the overriding interest of public health protection. Consequently, even if Pfizer had established that the authorisations of other products should also be withdrawn for reasons corresponding to the one which has prevailed in this case, it would not have proved that the contested regulation was unlawful for breach of the principle of non-discrimination, in so far as there is no equality in illegality, since the principle of non-discrimination does not found an entitlement to the non-discriminatory application of unlawful treatment. 480. It is therefore solely in the interest of completeness that the Court will consider whether the contested regulation treats comparable situations differently and, if so, whether the difference in treatment is objectively justified, regard being had, in that respect, to the Council's broad discretion as regards the objective justification of any different treatment (see Case T-267/94 Oleifici Italiani v Commission [1997] ECR II-1239, paragraph 47). 481. First, Anprogapor and Asovac have not established in what way the risk posed to human health by certain other products, such as tobacco, and the protective measures that might be taken in that respect are comparable to the risk posed by the use of antibiotics such as virginiamycin as growth promoters. 482. Second, as regards the other antibiotics whose authorisation was not withdrawn by the contested regulation, the Court observes that the aim of the regulation was to withdraw from the market antibiotics which are used not only as growth promoters but also in human medicine or which are known to select cross-resistance with antibiotics used in human medicine. As is apparent from recitals 28, 30 and 31 to the contested regulation, unlike virginiamycin, the antibiotics still available on the market do not belong to either of those categories. 483. Therefore Pfizer has not established that the position of virginiamycin is comparable to that of other antibiotics. 484. Consequently, the contested regulation did not breach the principle of non-discrimination. 3. No transparency in the legislative process 485. Pfizer argues that, contrary to the statement in the Draft Guidelines (paragraph 3.2) mentioned at paragraph 121 above, the Community institutions did not involve all the parties concerned, with maximum transparency, in consideration of the various possible management options once the results of the risk assessment were known. In particular, Anprogapor and Asovac complain that the institutions failed to consult farmers at all before adopting the contested regulation, although farmers were directly affected by the ban. 486. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that the contested regulation was adopted under the procedure laid down in Article 24 of Directive 70/524 and that the provision does not confer on the traders concerned a right to take part in the procedure (see paragraph 121 above). Moreover, the Court held at paragraph 121 above that Pfizer cannot rely on the Draft Guidelines to found such a right. 487. The right to be heard in an administrative procedure taken against a specific person, which must be observed, even in the absence of any rules governing the procedure in question (Case C-32/95 P Commission v Lisrestal and Others [1996] ECR I-5373, paragraph 21; and Case T-50/96 Primex Produkte Import-Export and Others v Commission [1998] ECR II-3773, paragraph 59), cannot be transposed to a legislative procedure leading, as in the present case, to the adoption of a measure of general application (Case C-104/97 P Atlanta v European Community [1999] ECR I-6983, paragraphs 34 and 37; and Case T-521/93 Atlanta and Others v European Community [1996] ECR II-1707, paragraphs 70 to 74). The fact that Pfizer - unlike the farmers in particular - is directly and individually concerned by the contested regulation does not alter that finding (Atlanta v European Community, cited above, paragraph 35; see also the Opinion of Advocate General Mischo in that case, ECR I-6983 at I-6987, points 57 to 70). 488. Furthermore, as Pfizer has itself accepted, the facts show that Pfizer, to a large extent, was able to make its views on the evidence used by the Commission known during the procedure culminating in adoption of the contested regulation. 489. Consequently, the argument Pfizer puts forward here must also be rejected. 4. Conclusion 490. It follows that Pfizer has not proved, either, that the institutions erred in managing the risk associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter. D - Conclusion 491. Given all of the foregoing, the pleas alleging errors in the risk assessment and risk management and breach of the precautionary principle must be rejected. II - The plea alleging breach of the principle of protection of legitimate expectations 492. Any trader with regard to whom an institution has given rise to justified hopes may rely on the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations (Case 78/77 Lührs [1978] ECR 169, paragraph 6; and Case T-489/93 Unifruit Hellas v Commission [1994] ECR II-1201, paragraph 51). However, a person may not plead a breach of that principle unless he has been given precise assurances (Case T-290/97 Mehibas Dordtselaan v Commission [2000] ECR II-15, paragraph 59). Likewise, where a prudent and discriminating trader could have foreseen the adoption of a Community measure likely to affect his interests, he cannot plead that principle if the measure is adopted (Lührs, cited above, paragraph 6; and Exporteurs in Levende Varkens and Others, cited at paragraph 83 above, paragraph 148). 493. Pfizer submits, in the first place, that under Article 11 of Directive 70/524 it could legitimately expect that the Commission would consult SCAN a second time on the new scientific evidence provided by the Danish authorities in August 1998 and referred to at paragraph 54 above. 494. The Court observes in that connection that, in the present case, the Commission was under no obligation to consult SCAN a second time about the new evidence before adopting a decision on the maintenance or withdrawal of the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs (see paragraph 298 above). Pfizer was therefore not entitled to take that provision as a basis for a legitimate expectation. 495. In the second place, Pfizer relies on a statement made by the Member of the Commission responsible for agriculture, Mr Fischler, to the European Parliament on 15 May 1998, in which he emphasised that the withdrawal of antibiotics as growth promoters could be implemented only on the basis of appropriate and detailed scientific arguments. Similarly, Pfizer submits that at a meeting on 23 March 1998 the Commission officials dealing with the case indicated that there might be doubts as to whether the dossier provided by the Danish authorities in support of their safeguard measure included a proper scientific basis on which the authorisation of virginiamycin could be withdrawn. On the basis of those factors, Pfizer submits that it had justified hopes, which were breached by the contested regulation, which, in its submission, was adopted without a proper scientific basis. 496. The Court has also held that the institutions did not err when they took the view, in adopting the contested regulation, that they had a proper scientific basis for taking a preventive protective measure in respect of virginiamycin. Likewise, the Court has also held that, as regards the procedure laid down in Article 24 of Directive 70/524, the Community institutions are under a duty to carry out their own risk assessment and that that assessment is, in that regard, independent of the assessment carried out by the Member State which adopted a safeguard measure. Therefore Pfizer's argument cannot be accepted. 497. In the third place, Pfizer claims that it had a legitimate expectation that no decision would be taken concerning virginiamycin before the results of the various ongoing scientific studies were published, i.e., first, the conclusions of the Surveillance Programme set up in 1998 following the adoption of Directive 97/6 (see paragraph 37 above) and, second, the SSC report (see paragraph 28 above), publication of which was expected to be in May 1999. 498. Pfizer also produces an extract from Mr Fischler's answer to a written question from a Member of the European Parliament given during the session of 20 November 1998. On that occasion, Mr Fischler stated: ‘The Commission is aware of the fact that resistance to antimicrobials is a major public health concern. ... The Commission has asked the [SSC] to examine this question and its relationship with the use of antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine, animal husbandry and plant protection. If necessary, the Commission shall propose measures in the light of this scientific opinion, which should be available around April next year ...’. 499. According to Pfizer, in making that statement, Mr Fischler gave a specific assurance on behalf of the Commission that no action would be taken before 1999, and that any action would in any event be taken only on the basis of the SSC report, whereas in fact the institutions acted in December 1998 and were thus unable to base themselves on that report. 500. The Court observes, first, that neither the wording of the provisions referred to by Pfizer nor the Surveillance Programme set up by the Commission gives any indication that a decision on withdrawal or maintenance of the authorisation of antibiotics, including virginiamycin, as growth promoters would be conditional upon completion of the relevant research. In particular, Directive 96/51, which provides for the re-evaluation of antibiotics, including virginiamycin, does not preclude the possibility that certain products might be withdrawn even before conclusion of the re-evaluation, on the basis, in particular, of a safeguard measure taken by a Member State. 501. Next, the Court notes, first of all, that Mr Fischler's statement is taken from an answer to a parliamentary question concerning the Commission's policy on the increase of antibiotic resistance as such. His answer is cast in general terms and cannot therefore give the precise assurance which Pfizer invokes. Furthermore, even though Mr Fischler indicated that the Commission intended to await publication of the SSC report before proposing any measures to be taken, the Council cannot be criticised for having decided, on a proposal from the Commission, for overriding reasons of public health protection and with a proper scientific basis for believing a risk of that kind to exist, to take preventive protective measures and to depart from the broad policy initially adopted. 502. That conclusion is all the more compelling in that, as the Council has rightly pointed out, Pfizer, as a prudent and discriminating operator in the pharmaceutical sector, knew or should have known, since the adoption of Directive 70/524, that where authorisation is granted under that directive it may be withdrawn by means of a safeguard clause. In addition, at least since the Act of Accession was signed by the Kingdom of Sweden, Pfizer, the only producer of virginiamycin, should have known that the Community institutions would take certain measures in respect of that product before the end of 1998. Likewise, the reports from international, Community and national bodies, recent scientific publications, the adoption of Directive 97/6 on avoparcin, the requests for amendment of Directive 70/524 made by the Kingdom of Sweden and the activation of the safeguard clause by the Danish authorities should all have put Pfizer on notice that it was not impossible that the Community institutions would act as they eventually did when they adopted the contested regulation. 503. Consequently, the documents in the case-file to which Pfizer refers do not lead to the conclusion that the institutions gave Pfizer precise assurances capable of giving rise to a legitimate expectation that no decision concerning virginiamycin would be taken before the results of the scientific studies were available and the re-evaluation procedure concluded. 504. Having regard to all of the foregoing, the Court concludes that the contested regulation is not vitiated by a breach of the principle of protection of legitimate expectations. The present plea must therefore be rejected as unfounded. III - The plea alleging breach of the obligation to state reasons 505. In the first part of this plea, Pfizer claims that the preamble to the contested regulation contains a misleading description of the SCAN opinion and, in the second part, it claims that the preamble does not adequately explain the reasons which led to adoption of the regulation. 506. Regarding the first part of the plea, the Court held at paragraph 246 above that the institutions did not distort the SCAN opinion. Therefore, this part of the plea must be rejected as unfounded. 507. As regards the second part of the plea, Pfizer submits that the preamble to the contested regulation does not adequately explain why, despite the SCAN opinion, the Community institutions performed a volte-face after receiving the Danish authorities' observations on the SCAN opinion. If the Commission decides to act in spite of the lack of scientific data, or in spite of what is revealed by such data, it must, in Pfizer's submission, provide specific details which will allow the parties concerned and the Court to understand the reasons for its action. 508. Anprogapor and Asovac add that recital 26 to the contested regulation acknowledges that the ban on additives is only one of the possible means of achieving the objective of the regulation but that those alternative means are not specified. 509. The Council contends that the preamble to the contested regulation sets out concisely and comprehensively the objective of the regulation and the background against which it was adopted. 510. The Court observes that the statement of reasons required by Article 190 of the EC Treaty (now Article 253 EC) must be appropriate to the act at issue and must disclose in a clear and unequivocal fashion the reasoning followed by the institution which adopted the measure in question in such a way as to enable the persons concerned to ascertain the reasons for the measure, in order to defend their rights, and to enable the Community Courts to exercise their power of review. It is not necessary for the reasoning to go into all the relevant facts and points of law, since the question whether the statement of reasons meets the requirements of Article 190 of the Treaty must be assessed with regard not only to its wording but also to its context and to all the legal rules governing the matter in question (Case C-265/97 P VBA v Florimex and Others [2000] ECR I-2061, paragraph 93). In particular, in the case, as here, of measures of general application, it has consistently been held that the statement of reasons may be confined to indicating the general situation which led to its adoption, on the one hand, and the general objectives which it is intended to achieve, on the other (Case C-150/94 United Kingdom v Council [1998] ECR I-7235, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited there). 511. The Court finds that the first argument is founded on an incorrect assumption. The preamble to the contested regulation unequivocally shows that the institutions took the view that, on the basis of the SCAN opinion (recitals 15 to 19) and the scientific reports referred to in recital 23, they had sufficient information to take a preventive measure. Contrary to Pfizer's assertion, nothing suggests that, following the submission of new evidence by the Danish authorities in August 1998, the institutions suddenly performed a volte face in relation to the risk posed by the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter. On the contrary, it is clear from recital 20 to the contested regulation that the new study on live rats mentioned at paragraph 54 above is just one of the items which the institutions took as their basis. 512. Furthermore, the preamble to the contested regulation (in particular recital 16) clearly and unequivocally shows that the institutions did not accept the conclusions in the SCAN opinion, in particular SCAN's view that it was not possible to carry out an adequate scientific assessment on the basis of the scientific data available. 513. As to the second argument, the background to the contested regulation clearly shows that the measure which it implements forms part of a series of measures taken by the institutions in order to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics used in human medicine. Those measures include the establishment of a surveillance programme, the systematic taking into account of ongoing research and of the SSC report at the time of the re-examination of the ban on virginiamycin, and the re-evaluation of authorised additives provided for in Directive 96/51. Moreover, recitals 28 and 30 to 32 to the contested regulation show that, as regards certain other antibiotics which were not used in human medicine, the institutions took a different approach, namely to await the results of ongoing research before deciding whether to maintain or withdraw the authorisations. 514. In the light of the foregoing, the plea alleging breach of the obligation to state reasons must also be rejected as unfounded. 515. Since none of the pleas put forward to challenge the contested regulation has been upheld, the application must be dismissed as unfounded. Costs 516. Under Article 87(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the successful party's pleadings. Since Pfizer has been unsuccessful, it must be ordered to pay the costs of these proceedings, including those relating to the proceedings for interim relief, in accordance with the form of order sought by the Council. 517. Under Article 87(4) of the Rules of Procedure, the Court may order an intervener to bear its own costs. Anprogapor, Asovac, Fedesa and Fefana, which have intervened in these proceedings on behalf of the unsuccessful party, are to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council in respect of their intervention in the main proceedings and the proceedings for interim relief. 518. The Asociación española de productores de huevos and the Pig Veterinary Society are to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council in respect of their applications for leave to intervene, those costs having been reserved in the order of 25 June 1999 by which their applications for leave to intervene were dismissed (see paragraph 63 above). 519. Under Article 87(4) of the Rules of Procedure, the Member States and institutions which intervened in the procedure are to bear their own costs. Consequently, the Commission, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Republic of Finland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are to bear their own costs both in the main proceedings and in the proceedings for interim relief. On those grounds, THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (Third Chamber), hereby: 1. Dismisses the application; 2. Orders Pfizer to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council, including those relating to the proceedings for interim relief; 3. Orders the Asociación nacional de productores de ganado porcino, the Asociación española de criadores de vacuno de carne, the Fédération européenne de la santé animale and the Fédération européenne des fabricants d'adjuvants pour la nutrition animale to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council in respect of their intervention in the main proceedings and the proceedings for interim relief; 4. Orders the Asociación española de productores de huevos and the Pig Veterinary Society to bear their own costs and to pay those incurred by the Council in respect of their applications for leave to intervene; 5. Orders the Commission, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Republic of Finland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to bear their own costs, both in the main proceedings and in the proceedings for interim relief. Azizi Lenaerts Jaeger Delivered in open court in Luxembourg on 11 September 2002. H. Jung M. Jaeger Registrar President Table of contents Legal framework II - 3 I - The Act of Accession II - 3 II - The Community rules on additives in feedingstuffs II - 4 A - General description II - 4 B - Definition of additives in feedingstuffs II - 4 C - The rules on authorisation and withdrawal of authorisation of antibiotics used as additives in feedingstuffs II - 5 1. The rules on authorisation of additives II - 5 2. The withdrawal of authorisation of an additive II - 7 3. The transitional rules II - 8 D - The ‘Standing Committee’, the Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition and the Scientific Steering Committee II - 10 Background to the proceedings II - 11 I - Scientific background to the case as at the time when the contested regulation, Regulation (EC) No 2821/98, was adopted II - 11 II - The procedure leading to the adoption of the contested regulation II - 14 III - The contested regulation II - 18 Procedure II - 19 Forms of order sought II - 20 Admissibility II - 21 I - Arguments of the parties II - 21 II - Findings of the Court II - 22 Substance II - 28 I - The pleas alleging errors of risk assessment and management and misapplication of the precautionary principle II - 28 A - Preliminary considerations II - 29 B - Errors in assessing the risks associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter II - 32 1. The purpose of risk assessment when the precautionary principle is applied II - 33 (a) Arguments of the parties II - 33 (b) Findings of the Court II - 34 (i) The ‘risk’ assessed when the precautionary principle is applied II - 34 (ii) The two complementary components of risk assessment: ascertaining what level of risk is deemed unacceptable and conducting a scientific assessment of the risks II - 36 (iii) Apportionment of the burden of proof and the scope of judicial review II - 39 2. Whether the contested regulation is unlawful because of the inadequate nature of the scientific data provided by the Danish authorities II - 41 (a) Arguments of the parties II - 41 (b) Findings of the Court II - 42 3. Errors in the relevant findings of fact in this case II - 43 (a) The SCAN opinion II - 44 (i) The Community institutions' obligation to accept the SCAN opinion II - 44 Arguments of the parties II - 44 Findings of the Court II - 44 (ii) Distortion of the SCAN opinion II - 48 (iii) Conclusion II - 55 (b) The fact that the new study on live rats was taken into account without SCAN's opinion being sought II - 55 (i) Arguments of the parties II - 55 (ii) Findings of the Court II - 57 Introduction II - 57 As to whether consultation of SCAN about the new study on live rats was mandatory or optional II - 57 The second consultation of SCAN II - 60 The role of the Standing Committee II - 61 The exceptional circumstances allowing the Community institutions to take account of the new study on live rats without having obtained a further opinion from SCAN II - 64 Conclusion II - 65 (c) The fact that the conclusions and recommendations of international, Community and national bodies were taken into account II - 65 (i) Arguments of the parties II - 65 (ii) Findings of the Court II - 66 (d) Conclusion II - 67 4. The errors which the Community institutions are alleged to have made in concluding that the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter constituted a risk to human health II - 67 (a) Introduction II - 68 (b) The adverse effects on human health should streptogramin resistance develop in humans II - 70 (c) The link between the use of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs and the development of streptogramin resistance in humans II - 73 (i) Summary of the research referred to in recitals 19 and 20 to the contested regulation II - 73 (ii) Arguments of the parties II - 74 (iii) Findings of the Court II - 76 (d) Conclusion II - 85 5. Conclusion II - 85 C - Errors in managing the risks associated with the use of virginiamycin as a growth promoter II - 85 1. Breach of the principle of proportionality and of the right to property, errors in the ‘cost/benefit’ analysis and misuse of powers II - 85 (a) Introduction II - 85 (b) Whether the withdrawal of the authorisation of virginiamycin as an additive in feedingstuffs was manifestly inappropriate to the objective pursued II - 86 (i) The excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in human medicine II - 87 (ii) The negative effects of banning virginiamycin II - 88 (iii) No action against imports from non-member countries II - 90 (iv) Conclusion II - 92 (c) The duty to take other, less onerous, measures II - 92 (d) The disproportionate nature of the disadvantages caused by comparison with the objective pursued, and breach of the right to property II - 94 (e) Errors in the cost/benefit analysis II - 96 (f) Conclusion II - 98 2. Breach of the principle of non-discrimination II - 98 3. No transparency in the legislative process II - 99 4. Conclusion II - 100 D - Conclusion II - 100 II - The plea alleging breach of the principle of protection of legitimate expectations II - 100 III - The plea alleging breach of the obligation to state reasons II - 103 Costs II - 105 1: Language of the case: English.