Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2016:676
Date: 2016-09-13
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Monetary measures in the field of agriculture;Eggs and poultry;Fundamental rights
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber), 9 March 2017 1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Poultry meat — Marketing standards — Water content of frozen and quick-frozen chickens — Unambiguous provisions (Commission Regulation No 543/2008, as amended by Regulation No 1239/2012, Arts 15(1) and 18(2) and Annexes VI and VII) 2. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Export refunds — Conditions for granting — Products of sound and fair marketable quality — Criteria for assessment — Marketable quality of the product — Assessment on the basis of the requirements laid down in the applicable EU legislation (Commission Regulations No 543/2008, as amended by Regulation No 1239/2012 and No 612/2009, as amended by Regulation No 173/2011, Art. 28(1)) 3. Customs union — Customs declarations — Ex post checks — Examination of the goods and taking of samples — Persons authorised to assist the declarant — Exporter of frozen and quick-frozen chickens — Lawfulness — Option for the exporter to request a further examination or sampling of the goods (European Parliament and Council Regulation No 450/2008, Arts 118(2) and 119(1), second para.; Commission Regulation No 543/2008, as amended by Regulation No 1239/2012, Art. 16(5)) 1. The examination of the third question did not bring to light any evidence able to affect the validity of the limits for water content in frozen chicken meat laid down in Article 15(1) and Annexes VI and VII to Commission Regulation (EC) No 543/2008 of 16 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards the marketing standards for poultry meat, as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1239/2012 of 19 December 2012. Article 15(1) of Regulation No 543/2008 and Annexes VI and VII thereto clearly define the content and scope of the requirements set out therein. Those provisions unambiguously determine both the products to which they relate, namely frozen and quick-frozen chickens, and the water content limit which must not be exceeded. Since Annexes VI and VII to Regulation No 543/2008, as amended by Implementing Regulation No 1239/2012, are sufficiently precise for the purpose of carrying out the checks on frozen and quick-frozen chickens intended for export with export refunds, the fact that a Member State has not adopted practical measures, whose adoption is provided for in Article 18(2) of that regulation, does not prevent those checks from being relied on against the undertakings concerned. (see paras 23, 30, 52, operative part 1, 3) 2. Article 28(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 612/2009 of 7 July 2009 on laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 173/2011 of 23 February 2011, must be interpreted as meaning that frozen or quick-frozen chickens with a water content exceeding the limits set by Regulation No 543/2008, as amended by Implementing Regulation No 1239/2012, are not marketable in normal conditions on the territory of the European Union and do not satisfy the requirement of sound and fair marketable quality, even if they are accompanied by a health certificate issued by the competent authority. (see para. 46, operative part 2) 3. An exporter of frozen or quick-frozen chickens may, in accordance with Article 118(2) and Article 119(1), second subparagraph, of Regulation (EC) No 450/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 laying down the Community Customs Code (Modernised Customs Code) may, first, be present or represented when the goods are examined and when samples are taken and, second, may request a further examination or sampling of the goods if he considers that the results obtained by the competent authorities are not valid. Thus, the Customs Code gives economic operators a right comparable to that provided for in Article 16(5) of Regulation No 543/2008. (see paras 58, 61, operative part 4)