# Directive 2001/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 March 2001 on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC, Article 18: Community procedure in case of objections

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. In cases where an objection is raised and maintained by a competent authority or the Commission in accordance with Articles 15, 17 and 20, a decision shall be adopted and published within 120 days in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2). This decision shall contain the same information as in Article 19(3).
For the purpose of calculating the 120 day period, any period of time during which the Commission is awaiting further information which it may have requested from the notifier or is seeking the opinion of the Scientific Committee which has been consulted in accordance with Article 28 shall not be taken into account. The Commission shall state reasons in any request for further information and inform the competent authorities of its requests to the notifier. The period of time during which the Commission is awaiting the opinion of the Scientific Committee shall not exceed 90 days.
The period of time that the Council takes to act in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) shall not be taken into account.
2. Where a favourable decision has been taken, the competent authority which prepared the report shall give consent in writing to the placing on the market or to the renewal of the consent, shall transmit it to the notifier and shall inform the other Member States and the Commission thereof within 30 days following the publication or notification of the decision.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2001/18/article/18 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-2001-18/article-18
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.