3.The United Kingdom Government affirms its conviction that its legislation is compatible with Community law.It contends that, in the absence of common rules relating to the protection of public health and consumers, it is for the Member States to regulate all matters relating to the production and marketing of milk on their own territory. Obstacles to movement within the Community resulting from the disparity of national laws relating to the marketing of milk must be accepted in so far as those provisions of national law may be recognized as being necessary to satisfy mandatory requirements relating to the protection of public health and consumer protection.Relying on the case-law of the Court laid down in the judgments of 16 May 1979 in Case 2/78 (Commission v Belgium [1979] ECR 1761) and of 20 February 1979 in Case 120/78 (Rewe-Zentrale AG, cited above), the United Kingdom Government considers that its legislation relating to the importation and marketing of dairy products cannot be regarded as conflicting with the requirements of Article 30 of the Treaty since that legislation is neither unreasonable nor disproportionate in relation to its objective, which is to ensure that dairy products sold for consumption on the territory of the United Kingdom are free of microorganisms and toxic substances. Conversely, it considers that it would be unreasonable to expect its authorities to rely on bilateral arrangements or the health standards of other Member States until the Commission's harmonization proposals, which have not been adopted by the Council, are implemented in the Member States.
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