SUBSTANCES ( GAZZETTA UFFICIALE DELLA REPPUBLICA ITALIANA OF 9 JULY 1974 , P . 4543 ).
4 IT APPEARS FROM THE DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE COURT THAT THAT ITALIAN LAW , WHICH WAS FOLLOWED BY SEVERAL IMPLEMENTING DECREES , WAS INTENDED TO TRANSPOSE INTO ITALIAN NATIONAL LAW DIRECTIVE 67/548/EEC , MENTIONED ABOVE , AS MOST RECENTLY AMENDED BY DIRECTIVE 79/831/EEC . THE ORDER FOR REFERENCE STATES THAT THAT LAW AND THE DECREES ADOPTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPLEMENTING IT HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF TWO CONFLICTING INTERPRETATIONS AND THE ACCUSED WOULD BE ACQUITTED OR CONVICTED ACCORDING TO THE INTERPRETATION ADOPTED . IN THE INTERPRETATION ADOPTED BY THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH , THE RULES REGARDING LABELLING OF PACKAGES APPLY ONLY TO DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES AND NOT TO PREPARATIONS CONTAINING ONE OR MORE DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES THE PRESENCE OF WHICH IS REQUIRED TO BE INDICATED ON THE LABEL . ACCORDING TO THE INTERPRETATION ADOPTED BY THE CRIMINAL COURTS , THE OBLIGATION TO LABEL APPLIES EQUALLY TO PREPARATIONS .
5 IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES , THE PRETORE DI TORINO , CONSIDERING THAT AN INTERPRETATION OF THE ABOVEMENTIONED DIRECTIVE WAS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO INTERPRET NATIONAL LAW , STAYED THE PROCEEDINGS AND , BY AN ORDER OF 9 JULY 1984 , REFERRED TO THE COURT OF JUSTICE FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING THE QUESTION :
' WHETHER DIRECTIVE 67/548/EEC , AS AMENDED BY DIRECTIVE 79/831/EEC , REQUIRES NOT ONLY SUBSTANCES ON THEIR OWN BUT ALSO SUBSTANCES IN PREPARATIONS TO BE LABELLED ' ' IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLES 15 TO 18 AND WITH THE CRITERIA IN ANNEX VI , AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RESULTS OF THE TESTS PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 6 ' ' , SAVE WHERE ' ' CONTRARY REQUIREMENTS FOR DANGEROUS PREPARATIONS ARE SPECIFIED IN SEPARATE DIRECTIVES ' ' . '
6 ALL THE OBSERVATIONS SUBMITTED TO THE COURT ARRIVE AT THE SAME CONCLUSION , NAMELY THAT THE REPLY TO THE QUESTION SHOULD BE IN THE NEGATIVE .
7 THE DEFENDANT IN THE MAIN PROCEEDINGS CLAIMS , PRINCIPALLY , THAT MINERAL OILS FOR VEHICLES CONTAINING PCB ARE NOT ' PREPARATIONS ' WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2 ( 1 ) ( B ) OF COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 67/548/EEC , AS AMENDED BY DIRECTIVE 79/831/EEC OF 18 SEPTEMBER 1979 AND , IN THE ALTERNATIVE , THAT IN ANY EVENT , THE MERE FACT THAT A SUBSTANCE IS TO BE FOUND IN A PREPARATION , REGARDLESS OF THE PROPORTION OF THE MIXTURE WHICH IT REPRESENTS , IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO RENDER THAT PREPARATION ' DANGEROUS ' .
8 THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT SUBMITS THAT ARTICLE 2 ( 2 ) OF DIRECTIVE 67/548/EEC DOES NOT PERMIT A PREPARATION TO BE CLASSIFIED AS DANGEROUS MERELY BECAUSE IT CONTAINS A DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE AND THAT , ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 4 ( 2 ) OF THE SAME DIRECTIVE , A SYSTEM OF RATINGS ENABLING THE HAZARD OF PREPARATIONS TO BE ASSESSED IS TO BE ESTABLISHED BY A SUBSEQUENT DIRECTIVE WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN ADOPTED , SO THAT THE PRESENT DIRECTIVE MERELY CONSTITUTES A STATEMENT OF INTENTION