A medicinal herbal tea classified as a traditional herbal medicinal product cannot, in principle, be marketed with the organic logo (ECJ)

The European Court of Justice in its Judgment in Case C-618/23 (Salus) ruled that a medicinal herbal tea classified as a traditional herbal medicinal product cannot, in principle, be marketed with the organic logo. 

The position may be otherwise where such an indication on the packaging has been approved by the competent authority on account of the beneficial effect of the organic production on the therapeutic characteristics of the medicinal product.

The German undertaking SALUS markets herbal medicinal products, including a sage medicinal herbal tea. The packaging of that medicinal product [1] bears the official organic production logo of the European Union. [2] 

SALUS intends to market other herbal teas with that logo. Twardy, a competing undertaking, is of the view that EU law precludes the use of the organic logo on the packaging of a medicinal product. It therefore asked the German courts to prohibit SALUS from marketing medicinal herbal teas the packaging of which bears indications relating to the organic origin of the plants from which they are made. The German court hearing the case submitted questions in that regard to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling. 

The Court states that medicinal herbal teas such as those at issue, which must be regarded as traditional herbal medicinal products, cannot be marketed, in principle, with the organic logo. As medicinal products, they are covered exclusively by the EU rules on medicinal products and not by those relating to organic production and labelling of organic products. It is true that certain optional information may be included on the packaging of medicinal products, on the condition that it is useful to the patient and is not of a promotional nature. 

However, information relating to the organic production of the active substances of traditional herbal medicinal products does not satisfy that condition. Indeed, since such medicinal products can be purchased without a prescription, that information could directly lead to a decision to purchase on the part of the patient, without that information necessarily having any value as regards health. 

That being said, the competent authority may, in the context of a marketing authorisation procedure, find that active substances with therapeutic or preventive properties resulting from organic production have a beneficial effect on the therapeutic characteristics of a medicinal product. In such a case, the authority may approve such a statement on the packaging of the medicinal product. (source curia.europa.eu/photo freepik.com)

Read the decision here

_____________

1 Within the meaning of Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use, as amended by Directive 2004/27/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004. 

2 Together with other indications pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ombudsman inquiry on Commission President’s text messages is a wake-up call for EU

Image
The European Ombudsman inquiry into the Commission’s handling of a request for text messages between its President and the CEO of a pharmaceutical company is a wake-up call for all EU institutions about ensuring accountability in an era of instant messaging. One year after the initial request by a journalist, the Commission has still not clarified whether messages reported to concern major vaccine procurement deals exist and whether the public is entitled to see them. The Ombudsman had asked the Commission, in a finding of maladministration in January, to conduct a more thorough search for the text messages. The Commission’s recent response failed to say whether it had looked directly and correctly for the text messages and if not, why not. While the response recognised that work-related text messages can be EU documents, it reiterated that the Commission’s internal policy is, in effect, not to register text messages. The Ombudsman has closed  the inquiry  and upheld...
Read more

An overview of the regulatory framework on Gambling Services in the European Union

Image
written by Efi Thoma * The European Union (EU) does not have a harmonized, single regulatory framework for betting companies. Instead, the regulation of gambling services, including betting, remains largely within the competence of individual Member States.  This results in a diverse and often fragmented legal framework across the EU. While the EU facilitates some level of cooperation and sets overarching principles, the specifics of licensing, operational requirements, and consumer protection measures vary significantly from country to country. Despite the lack of a unified framework, several key principles and EU-level instruments influence the national regulations of betting companies. More specifically, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) guarantees the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services within the EU. These fundamental freedoms mean that Member States cannot unjustifiably restrict betting companies legally established in ano...
Read more

Access to documents: the Commission decision refusing a journalist of The New York Times access to the text messages exchanged between President von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer is annulled (CJEU)

Image
In its Judgment dated 14/5/2025 in Case T-36/23 (Stevi and The New York Times v Commission), the General Court ruled that the Commission decision refusing a journalist of The New York Times access to the text messages exchanged between President von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer is annulled. By an application based on the Access to Documents Regulation, [1], Matina Stevi, a journalist working for the daily newspaper The New York Times, requested the European Commission to provide access to all text messages exchanged between President Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, between 1 January 2021 and 11 May 2022.  The Commission rejected that application on the ground that it did not hold the documents covered by it. Ms Stevi and The New York Times requested the General Court of the European Union to annul the Commission’s decision.  In its judgment, the General Court upholds the action and annuls the Commission’s decision. The Court re...
Read more

New President of the European Court of Human Rights

Image
The European Court of Human Rights has elected on 28.4.2025 Mattias Guyomar, Judge elected in respect of France, as its new President.  Mattias Guyomar succeeds Marko Bošnjak, Judge elected in respect of Slovenia. He will take up office on 30 May 2025. Read his bio here Furthermore, the Judge elected in respect of Armenia, Vahe Grigoryan, was formally sworn in in the Court's Main Hearing Room on 28.4.2025. Read as well:  Interventions in Justice System and the role of Artificial Intelligence / article by Giorgos Kazoleas, Lawyer in Cyprus
Read more

Imposition of a fine on a bank in Greece for an incident of personal data breach

Image
The Greek Data Protection Supervisory Authority imposed on a Bank, as Data Controller, an administrative fine of EUR 100,000 for violating the principles of accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality of data, and the principles of data protection by design and by default, in conjunction with Articles 32, 33, and 34 of the GDPR, as well as an administrative fine of EUR 20,000 for violating the complainants' right of access. Complaints were submitted to the Supervisory Authority of Greece against the National Bank of Greece for the incorrect linking of a complainant's bank account with the mobile phone number of another complainant in the “i-bank Pay application”, which resulted in money transfers, via “IRIS online payments service”, which were made to the first complainant's account instead of the second's.  In the context of the administrative audit conducted by the Authority, the Bank eventually identified that the issue was due to incorrect configuration during the ...
Read more