# C_2005106EN.01001001.xml

| 30.4.2005 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 106/10 |
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30.4.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 106/10

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ORDER OF THE COURT

ORDER OF THE COURT

(First Chamber)

of 19 January 2005

in Case C-206/03: (reference for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Chancery Division) Commissioners of Customs & Excise v SmithKline Beecham plc (1)

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(Article 104(3) of the Rules of Procedure - Common customs tariff - Tariff headings - Nicotine patches - Force in law of a classification opinion of the World Customs Organisation)

(2005/C 106/18)

Language of the case: English

In Case C-206/03: reference for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC from the High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Chancery Division, (United Kingdom) made by decision of 7 December 2000, received at the Court on 14 May 2003, in the proceedings between Commissioners of Customs & Excise and SmithKline Beecham plc — the Court (First Chamber), composed of P. Jann (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, N. Colneric, K. Schiemann, E. Juhász and E. Levits, Judges; A. Tizzano, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, made an order on 19 January 2005, the operative part of which is as follows:

Commissioners of Customs & Excise

SmithKline Beecham plc

| 1. | Nicotine patches, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, must be classed under heading 3004 of the Combined Nomenclature, contained in 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 2086/97 of 4 November 1997. |
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1.

Nicotine patches, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, must be classed under heading 3004 of the Combined Nomenclature, contained in 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 2086/97 of 4 November 1997.

| 2. | If a competent authority has issued incorrect binding tariff information, a national court is required under Article 10 EC to take, within the sphere of its competence, all the measures necessary to ensure that that information is annulled and that new binding tariff information, consistent with Community law, is issued.
  In that context, the procedure for and the effects of the decisions adopted by the national court hearing the action fall, within the bounds set by the principles of equivalence and effectiveness, within the ambit of domestic law.
  In that regard, it is not contrary to Article 12(5) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 82/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996, for a national court to annul a decision of a customs authority which, while it is consistent with a classification opinion of the W.C.O., fails to take account of the Combined Nomenclature contained in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2086/97, and to declare that goods must be classified otherwise than in accordance with that classification opinion. |
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If a competent authority has issued incorrect binding tariff information, a national court is required under Article 10 EC to take, within the sphere of its competence, all the measures necessary to ensure that that information is annulled and that new binding tariff information, consistent with Community law, is issued.

In that context, the procedure for and the effects of the decisions adopted by the national court hearing the action fall, within the bounds set by the principles of equivalence and effectiveness, within the ambit of domestic law.

In that regard, it is not contrary to Article 12(5) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 82/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996, for a national court to annul a decision of a customs authority which, while it is consistent with a classification opinion of the W.C.O., fails to take account of the Combined Nomenclature contained in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2086/97, and to declare that goods must be classified otherwise than in accordance with that classification opinion.

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(1)  OJ C 158 of 05.07.2003.

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