Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:355
Date: 2000-06-29
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Measures having equivalent effect;Quantitative restrictions
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
Free movement of goods — Quantitative restrictions — Measures having equivalent 
effect — Obligation to include a notification number on the labelling of foodstuffs 
containing nutrients — Not permissible — Justification — Protection of public 
health — None 
(EC Treaty, Art. 30 et seq. (now, after amendment, Art. 28 EC et seq.) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-217/99 
A Member State which lays down, in 
legislation concerning the placing on the 
market of nutrients and foodstuffs to which 
nutrients have been added, an obligation to 
indicate on the labelling of the foodstuffs 
containing nutrients the notification num­
ber at the national inspection service for 
foodstuffs fails to fulfil its obligations 
under Article 30 of the Treaty (now, after 
amendment, Article 28 EC) et seq. 
Such an obligation is of a nature such as to 
hinder intra-Community trade, since it may 
force the importer to alter the packaging of 
his products on the basis of the place where 
they are marketed and therefore to incur 
additional packaging and labelling costs. 
Even if the presence of a notification 
number provides consumers with an assur­
ance that a file has been notified to the 
competent authorities, that information is 
not capable of enabling them to decide 
whether or not they should consume the 
product and, if they do consume it, in what 
quantities. It is not sufficiently useful to 
them for its inclusion to be fully justified on 
grounds of the protection of public health. 
Furthermore, the measure is not necessary 
for the protection of public health, since the 
labelling includes other data which are 
equally useful information in that respect. 
(see paras 17, 26, 29-30 and operative part) 
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