Case T-565/18: Action brought on 24 September 2018 — P. Krücken Organic v Commission
Date: 2018-09-24
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: China, access to EU information, confectionery product, food inspection, import (EU), organic certification, organic product, originating product, sesame








C_2018427EN.01009101.xml










26.11.2018   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 427/91






Action brought on 24 September 2018 — P. Krücken Organic v Commission
(Case T-565/18)
(2018/C 427/120)
Language of the case: German

Parties


Applicant: P. Krücken Organic GmbH (Mannheim, Germany) (represented by: H. Schmidt, lawyer)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:






—


order the defendant to pay EUR 216 749,02 to the applicant plus default interest accruing from the date of the service of process at a rate of 8 percentage points per annum above the basic interest rate set by the European Central Bank;










—


order the defendant to make available to the applicant the documents produced in the course of ECOCERT SA’s activities inspecting documents when it carried out an inspection of the products from organic production of Erenhot Jinguyuan Grain and Oil Co. Ltd., 2051 Youyi Road North, Erenhot City, Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China, in particular the inspection reports and the associated evaluation letters from the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 relating to ECOCERT SA’s findings, assessments and decisions that formed the basis of the issuance of the certificate of inspection with the number 22904CN1700w13 of 19 September 2017, issued in accordance with Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 1[2]35/2008, for 490 960 kg of organic sesame cake and of the subsequent annulment of that certificate of inspection by ECOCERT SA;










—


order the defendant:
additionally to require, in turn, that the supervisory authorities for products from organic production to which the defendant entrusts the tasks associated with the EU supervision of organic production in third countries send to the relevant importer named in Field 11 of the certificate of inspection issued in accordance with Annex V to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/20[0]8, (1) in particular the applicant, the decisions of those authorities regarding the annulment, revocation or declaration of invalidity of the certificates of inspection issued to the relevant importer, in particular the applicant, and deal with any related administrative appeals and take a decision thereon; and
additionally to urge the supervisory authorities for products from organic production authorised by the defendant in third countries to make available to importers, in particular the applicant, the documents relating to the organic inspection procedure forming the basis of such decisions, in particular the inspection reports and evaluation letters, with, however, redaction of the parts that are subject to data protection in favour of third parties.





Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant claims, inter alia, that the Commission has breached its obligation to monitor through suitable measures the activities of ECOCERT SA as a recognised supervising authority for products from organic production for the purposes of ensuring equivalence in China, and thereby to ensure satisfactory compliance with the conditions laid down by Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007. (2)



(1)  Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 of 8 December 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 as regards the arrangements for imports of organic products from third countries (OJ 2008 L 334, p. 25).

(2)  Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (OJ 2009 L 189, p. 1).