Article 18
Where a Member State is informed in accordance with Article 8(3)(1) that another Member State has authorised a medicinal product which is the subject of a marketing authorisation application in the Member State concerned, it shall reject the application unless it was submitted in compliance with Articles 27 to 39."; 17) Article 19 shall be amended as follows: (a) in the introductory sentence, "Articles 8 and 10(1)" shall be replaced by "Articles 8, 10, 10a, 10b and 10c"; (b) in point 1, "Articles 8 and 10(1)" shall be replaced by "Articles 8, 10, 10a, 10b and 10c"; (c) in point 2, "a State laboratory or a laboratory designated for that purpose" shall be replaced by "an Official Medicines Control Laboratory or a laboratory that a Member State has designated for that purpose"; (d) in point 3, "Articles 8(3) and 10(1)" shall be replaced by "Articles 8(3), 10, 10a, 10b and 10c"; 18) in point (b) of Article 20, "in exceptional and justifiable cases" shall be replaced by "in justifiable cases"; 19) in Article 21, paragraphs 3 and 4 shall be replaced by the following: "3. The competent authorities shall make publicly available without delay the marketing authorisation together with the summary of the product characteristics for each medicinal product which they have authorised. 4. The competent authorities shall draw up an assessment report and comments on the file as regards the results of the pharmaceutical and pre-clinical tests and the clinical trials of the medicinal product concerned. The assessment report shall be updated whenever new information becomes available which is of importance for the evaluation of the quality, safety or efficacy of the medicinal product concerned. The competent authorities shall make publicly accessible without delay the assessment report, together with the reasons for their opinion, after deletion of any information of a commercially confidential nature. The justification shall be provided separately for each indication applied for."; 20) Article 22 shall be replaced by the following: "Article 22 In exceptional circumstances and following consultation with the applicant, the authorisation may be granted subject to a requirement for the applicant to meet certain conditions, in particular concerning the safety of the medicinal product, notification to the competent authorities of any incident relating to its use, and action to be taken. This authorisation may be granted only for objective, verifiable reasons and must be based on one of the grounds set out in Annex I. Continuation of the authorisation shall be linked to the annual reassessment of these conditions. The list of these conditions shall be made publicly accessible without delay, together with deadlines and dates of fulfilment."; 21) in Article 23, the following paragraphs shall be added:"The authorisation holder shall forthwith supply to the competent authority any new information which might entail the amendment of the particulars or documents referred to in Articles 8(3), 10, 10a, 10b and 11, or 32(5), or Annex I. In particular, he shall forthwith inform the competent authority of any prohibition or restriction imposed by the competent authorities of any country in which the medicinal product for human use is marketed and of any other new information which might influence the evaluation of the benefits and risks of the medicinal product for human use concerned. In order that the risk-benefit balance may be continuously assessed, the competent authority may at any time ask the holder of the marketing authorisation to forward data demonstrating that the risk-benefit balance remains favourable."; 22) the following Article shall be inserted: "Article 23a After a marketing authorisation has been granted, the holder of the authorisation shall inform the competent authority of the authorising Member State of the date of actual marketing of the medicinal product for human use in that Member State, taking into account the various presentations authorised. The holder shall also notify the competent authority if the product ceases to be placed on the market of the Member State, either temporarily or permanently. Such notification shall, otherwise than in exceptional circumstances, be made no less than 2 months before the interruption in the placing on the market of the product. Upon request by the competent authority, particularly in the context of pharmacovigilance, the marketing authorisation holder shall provide the competent authority with all data relating to the volume of sales of the medicinal product, and any data in his possession relating to the volume of prescriptions."; 23) Article 24 shall be replaced by the following: "Article 24 1. Without prejudice to paragraphs 4 and 5, a marketing authorisation shall be valid for five years. 2. The marketing authorisation may be renewed after five years on the basis of a re-evaluation of the risk-benefit balance by the competent authority of the authorising Member State. To this end, the marketing authorisation holder shall provide the competent authority with a consolidated version of the file in respect of quality, safety and efficacy, including all variations introduced since the marketing authorisation was granted, at least six months before the marketing authorisation ceases to be valid in accordance with paragraph 1. 3. Once renewed, the marketing authorisation shall be valid for an unlimited period, unless the competent authority decides, on justified grounds relating to pharmacovigilance, to proceed with one additional five-year renewal in accordance with paragraph 2. 4. Any authorisation which within three years of its granting is not followed by the actual placing on the market of the authorised product in the authorising Member State shall cease to be valid. 5. When an authorised product previously placed on the market in the authorising Member State is no longer actually present on the market for a period of three consecutive years, the authorisation for that product shall cease to be valid. 6. The competent authority may, in exceptional circumstances and on public health grounds grant exemptions from paragraphs 4 and 5. Such exemptions must be duly justified."; 24) Article 26 shall be replaced by the following: "Article 26 1. The marketing authorisation shall be refused if, after verification of the particulars and documents listed in Articles 8, 10, 10a, 10b and 10c, it is clear that: (a) the risk-benefit balance is not considered to be favourable; or (b) its therapeutic efficacy is insufficiently substantiated by the applicant; or (c) its qualitative and quantitative composition is not as declared. 2. Authorisation shall likewise be refused if any particulars or documents submitted in support of the application do not comply with Articles 8, 10, 10a, 10b and 10c. 3. The applicant or the holder of a marketing authorisation shall be responsible for the accuracy of the documents and the data submitted."; 25) the heading of Chapter 4 of Title III shall be replaced by the following: "CHAPTER 4 Mutual recognition procedure and decentralised procedure"; 26) Articles 27 to 32 shall be replaced by the following: "Article 27 1. A coordination group shall be set up for the examination of any question relating to marketing authorisation of a medicinal product in two or more Member States in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Chapter. The Agency shall provide the secretariat of this coordination group. 2. The coordination group shall be composed of one representative per Member State appointed for a renewable period of three years. Members of the coordination group may arrange to be accompanied by experts. 3. The coordination group shall draw up its own Rules of Procedure, which shall enter into force after a favourable opinion has been given by the Commission. These Rules of Procedure shall be made public.