# C_2014093EN.01000902.xml

| 29.3.2014 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 93/9 |
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29.3.2014

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 93/9

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Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 23 January 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands)) — X BV v Staatssecretaris van Financiën

(Case C-380/12) (1)

1

(Tariff headings - Decolourising earth - Chapter 25 of the Combined Nomenclature - Tariff heading 2508 - Concept of washed products - Elimination of impurities without changing the structure of the product - Chapter 38 of the Combined Nomenclature - Tariff heading 3802)

2014/C 93/14

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Referring court

Hoge Raad der Nederlanden

Parties to the main proceedings

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: X BV

Applicant:

Defendant: Staatssecretaris van Financiën

Defendant:

Re:

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — Hoge Raad der Nederlanden — Common Customs Tariff — Classification of goods — Decolorising earth — Classification under subheading 2508 40 00 or under subheading 3802 90 00 of the Combined Nomenclature — Notion of ‘eliminating impurities’ within the meaning of Note 1 to Chapter 25 of the Combined Nomenclature

Operative part of the judgment

Operative part of the judgment

| 1. | The concept of ‘eliminating impurities’ referred to in Note 1 to Chapter 25 of the Combined Nomenclature constituting Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006, must be interpreted as covering the elimination of chemical components found in a mineral product in a crude state through natural circumstances, in so far as that elimination takes place with a view to enhancing the ability of the products at issue to fulfil their inherent intended use, which it is for the national court to verify. |
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1.

The concept of ‘eliminating impurities’ referred to in Note 1 to Chapter 25 of the Combined Nomenclature constituting Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1549/2006 of 17 October 2006, must be interpreted as covering the elimination of chemical components found in a mineral product in a crude state through natural circumstances, in so far as that elimination takes place with a view to enhancing the ability of the products at issue to fulfil their inherent intended use, which it is for the national court to verify.

| 2. | Note 1 to Chapter 25 of the Combined Nomenclature constituting Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87, as amended by Regulation No 1549/2006, must be interpreted as meaning that products which have undergone treatment involving the use of chemical substances and leading to the elimination of impurities may be classified under CN tariff heading 2508 only if that treatment has not modified their superficial structure, which it is for the national court to determine. |
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2.

Note 1 to Chapter 25 of the Combined Nomenclature constituting Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87, as amended by Regulation No 1549/2006, must be interpreted as meaning that products which have undergone treatment involving the use of chemical substances and leading to the elimination of impurities may be classified under CN tariff heading 2508 only if that treatment has not modified their superficial structure, which it is for the national court to determine.

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(1)  OJ C 303, 6.10.2012.

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