40Next, it should be noted that although, as the Court held in De Peijper and Smith & Nephew and Primecrown, it follows from Articles 30 and 36 of the Treaty that national authorities must not obstruct parallel imports by requiring parallel importers to satisfy the same requirements as those which are applicable to undertakings applying for the first time for a marketing authorisation for a medicinal product, that principle is subject to the condition that an exception of that kind to the rules normally applicable to marketing authorisations for medicinal products does not undermine the protection of public health. As is clear from the first recital in the preamble to the Directive, the primary purpose of any rules concerning the production and distribution of medicinal products must be to safeguard public health. The criteria which must be met by a product imported as a parallel import for the parallel importer to be under no obligation to supply the particulars referred to in the Directive must not, therefore, lead to a relaxation of safety requirements (see, to that effect, Generics (UK), paragraph 22).
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