Concentration effect of an approval under the GenTG

The concentration effect (Section 22 GenTG) is frequently discussed in project management courses: In short, it states that the operator 1. only has to contact a single authority – the licensing authority under the GenTG, 2. only has to conduct a single procedure – namely the licensing procedure under the GenTG, and 3. only receives a single decision – namely the license under the GenTG. The authority reviews all other public law regulations on his behalf in a uniform procedure, in the sense of procedural concentration, and, after hearing the parties involved, incidentally grants the license to other authorities. The provision of Section 22 Paragraph 1 GenTG is broadly worded. According to this, the facility license includes other official decisions concerning the genetic engineering facility, in particular public law authorizations, licences, grants, permits and authorisations, with the exception of official decisions based on nuclear law regulations. According to the wording, only the Atomic Energy Act is exempt from the concentration effect. In practice, this has an impact, among other things, when working with materials that require additional permits under the Infection Protection Act, the Animal Diseases Ordinance, or plant protection regulations, unless these have already been obtained. In this case, the requirements of the Infection Protection Act, the Animal Diseases Ordinance, or the plant protection regulations are examined and decided upon in the strict approval process – not in the notification and registration process, so that a separate procedure is generally no longer necessary.

This publication can also be found on the website of the law firm Dr. Kauch .