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On the appeal of “Eurolab 2011”, the Supreme Administrative Court canceled the order of the director of the BABH from August 2022, which ordered the phytosanitary and veterinary control, as well as the control of products of non-animal origin, to be carried out with equipment for unloading, opening and review of shipments secured by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency. With the same order, it was also specified that the identity checks be carried out by the Captain Andreevo GIP department.
The bird.bg site on Facebook first announced the decision of judges Lyubomir Gaidov (chairman of the panel and reporter), Emanoil Mitev and Emil Dimitrov. It annuls the act of the Administrative Court in Sofia, which rejected Eurolab’s complaints a year ago. The prosecutor’s office pleaded for the same before the Supreme Court.
However, the supreme judges did not accept the arguments of BABH and ruled in favor of the private company.
The order was set aside on procedural grounds. The court explains that before issuing it, the minimum requirements of the law related to its preparation and issuance had to be complied with. BFSA did not follow this procedure, citing the urgency of the case. According to the court – there was no urgency, i.e. the agency should have notified the interested parties that it was beginning to prepare for the issuance of the order, so that they could give their opinions. And with the actions of the BABH, the interested parties were deprived of the opportunity to protect their rights and interests, according to the judges.
“From the materials in the case, there is no data, and it is not claimed that the operators committed violations during the loading and unloading activity. The legitimate purpose of the order must be to prevent or stop violations related to national security and public order, and from the administrative file and reasons, it is clear that de facto a new order is being created in the loading and unloading activities of the GKP “Captain Andreevo”, it is written in the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court.
According to the court, the phytosanitary control activity is not clearly regulated in the Law on the Management of the Agro-Food Chain. There is no way to regulate these relations with a single order issued under conditions of urgency, the supreme judges explain. And they add that “these relations are important, especially when it comes to animals and goods that cross the border of a member state of the European Union for the first time. This makes it difficult to create a sustainable administrative practice that is stable and predictable for all concerned persons who have acquired status as such and carry out their activities according to the current European legislation”.
“The Council of Europe and the ECtHR emphasize that the principles of the rule of law must also be guiding in an emergency situation, which in this case is undoubtedly not present. Even if it is necessary for the competent authority to take extraordinary measures to overcome a crisis situation that has arisen, the acts and actions of the administration must respect the principles of legality and proportionality,” the court decision also states. It is final, and BFSA must also pay BGN 440 in court costs to “Eurolab 2011”.
“Eurolab 2011” (successor to another private company linked to shadow business persons) carried out phytosanitary control at the largest border point in Europe (including unloading of tires, goods checks, sampling and testing in a private laboratory located of “Capt. Andreevo”, reverse loading, processing of documents), but last spring the “Petkov” cabinet announced that it was ending the “private border” and would return control to the hands of the state.
However, “Eurolab” attacked in court absolutely every attempt of BABH to regain control, a series of orders entered the court due to appeals and the outcome got bogged down in cases. In August, already at the time of the office of “Capt. Andreevo”, the relations between the representatives of the private company and the employees of the BABH were strained to such an extent that the gendarmerie had to intervene.
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2023-12-16 11:48:00
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