Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2015:615
Date: 2015-09-17
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Seventh Chamber
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber), 17 September 2015 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits — Classification of goods under tariff headings in the Common Customs Tariff (Art. 267 TFEU) 2. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Classification of goods — Criteria — Characteristics and objective properties 3. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Classification of goods — Criteria — Objective characteristics — Scope — Intended use of the product — Included 4. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Amino acid mixes used for the preparation of foodstuffs for infants and young children allergic to cow’s milk proteins — Classification under heading 2106 of the Combined Nomenclature — Conditions — To be determined by the national court (Council Regulation No 2658/87, Annex I) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 24) 2. See the text of the decision. (see para. 25) 3. See the text of the decision. (see para. 30) 4. The Combined Nomenclature in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Regulation No 1214/2007, must be interpreted as meaning that amino acid mixes which are used in the preparation of foodstuffs for infants and young children who are allergic to cow’s milk proteins, must be classified under heading 2106 of that nomenclature as ‘food preparations’ since, because of their objective characteristics and properties, those goods do not have clearly defined therapeutic or prophylactic characteristics, with an effect concentrated on precise functions of the human organism and, accordingly, are not capable of being applied in the prevention or treatment of diseases or ailments and also are not naturally intended for medical use, which it is for the national court to ascertain. In that regard, it is clear from the actual wording of note 1(a) to Chapter 30 of the Combined Nomenclature that dietetic foods or beverages, other than nutritional preparations for intravenous administration, which, without being part of the daily diet, are nevertheless used purely for feeding purposes are excluded from that chapter. It follows therefrom that goods manufactured solely for nutritional preparations which form part of the daily diet cannot be classified as ‘medicaments consisting of constituents which have been mixed together for therapeutic or prophylactic uses’ within the meaning of heading 3003 of the Combined Nomenclature. It follows, in addition, from the Explanatory Notes to the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, drafted by the World Customs Organisation, that food preparations containing only nutritional substances cannot be classified as ‘medicaments’ under heading 30.03 of the that system, corresponding to heading 3003 of the Combined Nomenclature. That is the case in particular of goods which are purely substitute foodstuffs and contain no active medicinal substance as regards allergies. (see paras 35-37, operative part)