Farm medicines sold in Ireland must be labelled in Irish - EU court

DAFM told the court that the issue could have profound implications for the entire agricultural sector

Seán McCárthaigh

March 18 2021 08:34 AM

The EU’s top court has issued a ruling that will require Irish courts to take remedial steps to ensure veterinary medicine products sold in Ireland are labelled in Irish.

In its first-ever full judgement on a case conducted in the Irish language, the Court of Justice of the European Union said national courts cannot disregard the obligations on EU member states to ensure EU legislation is transposed correctly into legislation in their own country.

Although it has been possible since 1973 to bring a case to the CJEU in Irish as one of the EU’s 24 official languages, it has never happened before now.

The ruling represents a major victory for an Irish language activist, Peadar MacFhlannchadha of Moycullen, Co Galway who had initiated a case on the issue against the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the High Court in 2016.

The case was referred to the Luxembourg-based court by the High Court in Dublin after Mr MacFhlannchadha sought a declaration by the court that the department had failed to correctly transpose an EU directive on the labelling of veterinary medicines into Irish law.

The department had argued that Mr MacFhlannchadha did not have locus standi to initiate such proceedings as well as claiming the issue could have profound implications for the entire agricultural sector, for the economy as a whole and, indeed, for human and animal health.

It said it was of critical importance that an appropriate range and supply of veterinary medicines continued to be available in Ireland.

The department warned that suppliers of veterinary medicines would probably withdraw entirely from the Irish market if they were required to provide labelling in Irish as well as English.

The High Court agreed with Mr MacFhlannchadha that the Irish statutory instrument that transposed the EU directive was incompatible with the EU legislation as it did not require the labelling of such products in both Irish and English

The effect of the Irish regulation is that no medicine sold in Ireland is labelled in Irish.

However, the High Court deferred making an order in the case as Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh had noted that a new EU regulation due to come into effect in January 2022 would render Mr MacFhlannchadha’s point moot.

It sought guidance on whether it could refuse to provide the declaration sought by Mr MacFhlannchadha on the basis that it would be undone by the new regulation coming into effect.

It will allow EU member states discretion as to the languages required on veterinary medicines which would make the existing Irish statutory instrument perfectly valid under EU law again.

However, the CJEU’s ruling on Wednesday stated that courts in EU member states must exercise its powers to take remedial steps to address national laws which incorrectly transpose EU legislation.

The CJEU said the provisions of the existing directive remain binding until is repealed and replaced by the new one next year.

The ruling also comes as a surprise as it reverses the legal opinion by an advocate general of the CJEU published in January which recommended that the Irish courts could defer making the declaration sought by Mr MacFhlannchadha

A spokesperson for the CJEU said it was “a curious, happy coincidence” that the court’s first-ever proceedings in the Irish language after almost 50 years took place on St Patrick’s Day.