Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2012:459
Date: 2012-07-12
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment 1. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Tariff headings 3002 and 3502 — Interpretation — Explanatory notes for the harmonised commodity description and coding system identical to those in the combined nomenclature — Use of the combined of nomenclature (Council Regulation No 2658/87, Annex I, as amended by Commission Regulation No 1789/2003) 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 — Scope — Intended use of the product — Included 4. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Classification of goods — Blood albumin which does not itself have a therapeutic or prophylactic effect which was produced for the preparation of products having such effects — Classification as a product prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic use (Council Regulation 2658/87, Annex I, Chapter 30, Note 1(g), and Chapter 35, Note 1(b), as amended by Commission Regulation No1789/2003) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 25) 2. See the text of the decision. (see para. 30) 3. See the text of the decision. (see para. 33) 4. Note 1(g) of Chapter 30 of 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 1789/2003, read in conjunction with Note 1(b) of Chapter 35 thereof, must be interpreted as meaning that a blood albumin which does not itself have a therapeutic or prophylactic effect, but which was produced for the preparation of products having a prophylactic or therapeutic effect, which is essential to that preparation, and which, by its nature, may only be used for that purpose, was prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic use within the meaning of that note. Accordingly, the fact that blood albumin cannot be used directly for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes does not prevent it, when it goes through customs, from being regarded on the basis of its objective characteristics and properties as being prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic use. (see paras 39, 47, operative part)