Judgment_paragraph 53 · Confédération paysanne and Others v Premier ministre and Ministre de l’agriculture, de l’agroalimentaire et de la forêt (C-528/16)

53As laid down in Article 4(1) of Directive 2001/18, it is for the Member States to ensure, in accordance with the precautionary principle, that all appropriate measures are taken to avoid adverse effects on human health and the environment which might arise from the deliberate release or placing on the market of GMOs. This implies, in particular, that such deliberate release or the placing on the market may take place only on completion of procedures of assessment of the risks referred to in part B and part C of that directive respectively. However, as set out in paragraph 48 of the present judgment, the risks for the environment or human health linked to the use of new techniques/methods of mutagenesis to which the referring court refers might be similar to those which result from the production and release of a GMO through transgenesis. It follows that an interpretation of the exemption in Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/18, read in conjunction with point 1 of Annex I B thereto, which excludes organisms obtained by means of techniques/methods of mutagenesis from the scope of that directive, without any distinctions, would compromise the objective of protection pursued by the directive and would fail to respect the precautionary principle which it seeks to implement.