Order;Summary — ECLI:EU:C:2020:117
Date: 2020-02-27
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Translation C-670/19 — 1 
Case C-670/19 
Request for a preliminary ruling 
Date lodged: 
10 September 2019 
Referring court: 
Finanzgericht Baden-Württemberg (Finance Court of Baden-
Württemberg, Germany) 
Date of the decision to refer: 
9 April 2019 
Applicant: 
Gardinia Home Decor GmbH 
Defendant: 
Hauptzollamt Ulm (Ulm Main Customs Office) 
  
FINANCE COURT OF BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG 
Order 
[…] 
In the financial dispute of 
Gardinia Home Decor GmbH 
[…] Isny im Allgäu 
– Applicant – 
[…] 
v 
Hauptzollamt Ulm (Ulm Main Customs Office) 
[…] 
EN 
REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING OF 9.4.2019 — CASE C-670/19 
 
2  
– Defendant – 
in relation to import charges (import duties) 
the 11th Chamber of the Finance Court of Baden-Württemberg  
[…] 
made the following order on the basis of the hearing of 9 April 2019: 
I. The following questions are referred to the Court of Justice of the European 
Union (Court of Justice) for a preliminary ruling pursuant to Article 267 of 
the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU): 
1. Is subheading 8302 4190 of the Combined Nomenclature to be 
interpreted as also covering metal goods which are imported as curtain rods 
of a modular construction system in different lengths, have a constant, 
circular cross section of 16 or 20 mm over the entire length, are hollow and 
longitudinal seam-welded, the surfaces of which were either painted or 
galvanised, which are individually packaged in film and provided with a 
label, from which the intended use as a curtain rod is apparent, and the ends 
of which are each closed with a plastic stopper, serving to protect the rods 
from damage during transport and presentation, but also possibly being used 
instead of a decorative end piece otherwise to be separately acquired? 
2. If the first question is answered in the negative: 
Is the first question to be answered differently if the rods are imported 
together with other parts, from which the intended use as a curtain rod is 
apparent, even if the parts are not packaged together as a set and are also not 
imported in corresponding quantity? 
II. The proceedings are stayed pending the ruling of the Court of Justice on the 
request for a preliminary ruling. 
[…] [Remarks on national procedural law] 
Grounds 
I. 
1 At issue is the assessment of anti-dumping duty under Article 1 of Council 
Regulation (EC) No 156/2008 of 16 December 2008 imposing a definitive anti-
dumping duty on imports of certain welded tubes and pipes of iron or non-alloy 
steel in respect of metal curtain rods. The assessment of anti-dumping duty 
essentially depends on the classification of the goods in the Combined 
Nomenclature as set out 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 (Official Journal of the European Communities No L 256/1) as 
GARDINIA HOME DECOR 
 
3 
amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 927/2012 of 9 October 2012 
(Official Journal of the European Union No L 304/1) (CN). The request for a 
preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of subheadings 7306 3077 and 
8302 4190 CN. Whilst goods under subheading 7306 3077 CN originating in 
China were exempt from customs duty in the relevant period, but subject to an 
anti-dumping duty of 90.6%, goods under subheading 8302 4190 CN were subject 
only to a third-country duty of 2.7%. 
2 The applicant is a manufacturer of interior decoration and sun protection articles. 
On 13, 15 and 26 April 2011, it imported inter alia metal curtain rods of different 
lengths with the trade names ‘Dance’ (20 mm diameter) and ‘Entry’ (16 mm 
diameter) from the People’s Republic of China. The curtain rods were in each case 
hollow and longitudinal seam-welded and had a constant, circular cross section 
over the entire length. Their surfaces were either painted or galvanised. For 
transport and sale, the rods were individually wrapped in film in the country of 
production, provided with a label, from which the intended use as a curtain rod 
was apparent, and closed at both ends with plastic stoppers, which served to 
protect the rods from damage during transport and presentation for sale, but could 
also be used instead of a decorative end piece to be separately acquired. The 
curtain rods were part of a modular construction system, with which the customers 
could assemble a curtain rod set from various individual parts (rod, end piece, 
connector, support and rings). The film-wrapped, labelled rods were packaged in 
boxes and imported into the customs territory of the Community sometimes 
separately and sometimes together with other parts of the modular construction 
system in different quantities which did not correspond to the number of curtain 
rods […]. 
3 When declaring these goods for release into free circulation, the applicant in each 
case indicated the code number 8302 4200 900 of the Electronic Customs Tariff 
(ECT) ‘other mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture’ or code 
number 8302 4900 900 ECT ‘other mountings, fittings and similar articles’ (each 
with a duty rate of 2.7%). 
4 In the scope of a customs inspection carried out in respect of the applicant, the 
inspector came to the conclusion, inter alia, that the curtain rods were to be 
classified as ‘other tubes or pipes of iron or non-alloy steel’ under the code 
number 7306 3077 800 ECT (exempt from customs duty). From 20 December 
2008 to 27 January 2015, an anti-dumping duty of 90.6% applied to goods under 
this code number originating in the People’s Republic of China. 
5 The defendant Main Customs Office agreed with that classification opinion and, 
by decision […] of 5 March 2014, ordered the post-clearance recovery of anti-
dumping duty of EUR 7957.51 and third-country duty totalling EUR 228.04 in 
respect of the curtain rods imported during the inspection period. In addition, the 
decision also ordered the post-clearance recovery of third-country duty of EUR 
149.81 as a result of the customs inspection in relation to other goods. 
REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING OF 9.4.2019 — CASE C-670/19 
 
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6 The applicant’s objection directed exclusively against the assessment of anti-
dumping duty was dismissed as unfounded by the Main Customs Office by 
decision of 28 November 2016, against which the applicant brought the present 
proceedings. 
7 It claims that in each case it imported the curtain rods together with associated end 
pieces, supports and rings. The intended use could clearly be inferred from the 
joint import of these goods. The fact that the number of accessories did not match 
the number of imported curtain rods resulted from the sales model, namely a 
modular construction system, with which various supports, rings and end pieces 
could be combined with the curtain rods. It is incomprehensible, in its view, that 
the Main Customs Office – despite considering that the intended use of the pipes 
as curtain rods was recognisable when supports, rings and end pieces were 
simultaneously imported in a corresponding amount – did not consider that to be 
the case when the same goods were simultaneously imported in non-
corresponding amounts. In both cases, the intended use was apparent from the 
simultaneously imported accessory. 
8 Furthermore, the intended use of the curtain rods was also clearly apparent from 
the label affixed to the film covering each curtain rod. […] [Reference to national 
case-law]. 
9 The applicant adds that curtain rods in the form of metal tubes are, as a rule, 
classified under heading 8302 CN. They are expressly mentioned in point 16 of 
the Explanatory Notes to the CN (CNEN) regarding this heading. Only tubes 
which are merely cut to length are excluded therefrom (CNEN point 17.1). 
However, in the present case, a further processing step was performed, in that the 
tubes were provided with suitable plastic caps. 
10 The Main Customs Office opposes the applicant’s action. In that respect, it refers 
to the reasoning set out in its decision of 28 November 2016. It essentially stated 
in that decision that had the rods been imported together with the supports 
required for attachment to a wall or ceiling, they would have had to be classified 
as ‘other mountings and fittings’ (in this case: mountings and fittings suitable for 
buildings) under heading 8302 4190 CN. However, since the rods were not 
imported as a unit together with the supports, such a classification was out of the 
question. The goods also could not have been classified as an unassembled or 
disassembled curtain system within the meaning of the second sentence of 
General Rule (GR) 2(a) since it had not yet been established at the moment of 
presentation for which precisely determined article the individual components 
were supposed to be assembled. That decision had been reserved for the end 
customer. In addition, curtain rods had sometimes been imported alone. 
11 The decisive factor is not the use which the trader intended for its product, but the 
objective quality of the product on the basis of its characteristics and properties. 
The intended purpose as a curtain rod was not apparent from the imported tubes 
themselves. In particular, they did not have any specific features that would 
GARDINIA HOME DECOR 
 
5 
distinguish them from other ordinary tubes such as, for example, drilled holes, 
milled areas, longitudinal grooves for sliders or the like. The plastic stoppers with 
which the tubes were closed at both ends are also not exclusively used in the case 
of curtain rods. They merely serve for protection during transport and sale. 
12 According to the Main Customs Office, this tariff opinion is also supported by the 
Explanatory Notes to the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding 
System (IHSEN) regarding heading 8302, in section D 5. point 17.1, according to 
which metal curtain rods, tubes and bars for curtains, which are simply cut to 
length, including perforated profiles, tubes and bars, are classified according to 
their quality. The designation of the product, accompanying use instructions 
corresponding to the intended use or packaging could not be of importance for the 
tariff classification. 
13 The Hanover Main Customs Office had accordingly issued binding tariff 
information (BTI) in respect of the applicant’s curtain rods with the trade names 
‘Reno’ and ‘Chicago’, according to which these were to be classified under the 
code number 7306 3077 800 ECT. The imported goods were comparable 
therewith in this respect. Only in one case in which two tubes with a specific 
connecting element had been imported could BTI be issued according to which 
the product was to be classified under the code number 8302 4190 000 ECT. 
14 […] [Account of the proceedings before the referring court] 
II. 
15 The chamber is staying the proceedings, by analogous application of Paragraph 74 
of the Finanzgerichtsordnung (Finance Court Rules), and referring the questions 
set out in the operative part to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling 
pursuant to Article 267 TFEU. 
16 The resolution of the dispute depends on how subheadings 7306 3077 and 
8302 4190 CN in the version resulting from Regulation (EU) No 1238/2010 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2010 (OJ No L 348/36) 
are to be interpreted. The referring chamber has doubts as to whether the 
classification under subheading 7306 3077 CN carried out by the defendant Main 
Customs Office is correct. 
The first question: 
17 The referring chamber assumes that the goods imported by the applicant as curtain 
rods are either goods under subheading 7306 3077 CN (other tubes or pipes of 
iron or non-alloy steel) or goods under subheading 8302 4190 CN (mountings and 
fittings suitable for buildings, excluding for doors, windows and French doors). 
The subheadings indicated by the applicant in the customs declaration, 8302 4200 
CN (base metal mountings, fittings and similar articles, other than building 
mountings and fittings, suitable for furniture) and 8302 4900 900 CN (base metal 
mountings, fittings and similar articles, other than building mountings and fittings, 
REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING OF 9.4.2019 — CASE C-670/19 
 
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other than for furniture, not for civil aviation), are not considered to be relevant by 
the chamber. 
18 The general rules for the interpretation of the CN provide that the classification of 
goods is to be determined according to the terms of the headings and any section 
or chapter notes, the titles of sections, chapters and sub-chapters being provided 
for ease of reference only. In spite of the fact that they lack binding force, the 
explanatory notes to the HS and the CN are an important aid in interpreting the 
scope of the various tariff headings (judgment of the Court of Justice of 15 May 
2019, Case C-306/18, ECLI:EU:C:2019:414, KORADO, paragraph 35 and the 
case-law cited). 
19 According to the Court’s settled case-law, in the interests of legal certainty and 
ease of verification, the decisive criterion for the classification of goods for 
customs purposes is in general to be sought in their objective characteristics and 
properties as defined in the wording of the relevant heading of the CN and in the 
section or chapter notes (judgment of 25 February 2016, Case C-143/15, 
ECLI:EU:C:2016:115, G. E. Security, paragraph 44 and the case-law cited). 
20 The intended use of a product may constitute an objective criterion in relation to 
tariff classification if it is inherent in the product, and such inherent character must 
be capable of being assessed on the basis of the product’s objective characteristics 
and properties (see judgments of the Court of Justice of 13 July 2006, Case 
C-514/04, ECLI:EU:C:2006:464, Uroplasty, paragraph 42; of 22 September 2016, 
Case C-91/15, ECLI:EU:C:2016:716, Kawasaki Motors Europe, paragraph 56 and 
of 26 April 2017, Case C-51/16, ECLI:EU:C:2017:298, Stryker EMEA Supply 
Chain Services, paragraph 40). According to the case-law, in order to be classified 
under the tariff heading relating to a use, the product to be classified does not have 
to be solely or exclusively intended for that use. It suffices if that use is the main 
use for which it is intended (see in this regard judgments of the Court of Justice of 
9 August 1984, Case C-395/93, ECLI:EU:C:1994:318 — Neckermann Versand — 
paragraphs 8 and 9; of 13 July 2006, Case C-14/05, ECLI:EU:C:2006:465 — 
Anagram International — paragraph 26; of 17 July 2014, Case C-480/13, 
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2097 — Sysmex Europe — paragraph 32). 
21 According to the first sentence of Note 2(c) on Section XV, which according to 
GR 1 is decisive for the classification, goods of heading 8302 HS are deemed to 
be ‘parts of general use’. In Chapters 73 to 76 and 78 to 82 (but not in heading 
7315), references to ‘parts of goods’ do not include references to ‘parts of general 
use’ (second sentence of Note 2). In this case, the chamber assumes that it is 
irrelevant whether the imported rod could be regarded as a building mounting or 
fitting per se or merely as part thereof since, according to the first sentence of 
Note 1 and the first sentence of IHSEN 02.0 on Chapter 83, base-metal parts of 
goods of Chapter 83 are to be classified with their parent articles. The chamber 
does not consider the exceptions in the second sentence of Note 1 and the second 
sentence of IHSEN 02.0 on Chapter 83 to be relevant. 
GARDINIA HOME DECOR 
 
7 
22 The third sentence of Note 2 on Section XV reads as follows: Subject to the 
preceding paragraph and to Note 1 on Chapter 83, goods of Chapter 82 and 83 are 
excluded from Chapters 72 to 76 and 78 to 81. Classification under heading 8302 
HS must therefore be examined first. 
23 The wording of heading 8302 HS, which according to GR 1 is decisive, reads 
‘base-metal mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for furniture, doors, 
staircases, windows, blinds, coachwork, saddlery, trunks, chests, caskets or the 
like; base-metal hat-racks, hat-pegs, brackets and similar fixtures; castors with 
mountings of base metal; automatic door closers of base metal’. Subheading 
8302 4190 CN might be relevant here (mountings and fittings suitable for 
buildings, excluding for doors, windows and French doors). 
24 According to the IHSEN on heading 8302, the goods of this heading, as 
mountings, fittings and similar articles suitable for buildings, also include inter 
alia fastening material and accessories for window and door curtains, such as 
curtain rods, tubes, rosettes, supports, curtain holders, clamps, rings (point 16.0). 
25 Since the decisive criterion for the classification of goods is in general to be 
sought in their objective characteristics and properties, as defined in the wording 
of the relevant CN heading and in the section or chapter notes, the function as an 
article similar to mountings and fittings must result from the tubes imported as 
curtain rods themselves. 
26 In the opinion of the chamber, the fact that the tubes are provided with a label, 
from which the intended use as a curtain rod emerges, is not in itself sufficient for 
classification under heading 8302 HS, but merely an indication of the intended 
use. However, there are further objective criteria which indicate use as a curtain 
rod. 
27 The rods are individually film-wrapped and the tube ends provided with plastic 
stoppers, which indicates use as a decorative object or at least use in which the 
outer appearance of the article is important, as opposed to use as pipework. The 
plastic stoppers covering each end of the tube are also often used in practice, in 
the case of curtain rods, instead of decorative end pieces. Although the tubes 
examined by the chamber do not have drilled holes, threads, tongues, grooves or 
similar characteristics, the surface of the tubes is galvanised, which gives the tubes 
a copper-coloured marbled appearance, or colour painted. In the opinion of the 
referring chamber, both surfaces indicate use as a decorative object or fitting. 
28 The IHSEN on heading 8302 expressly refer in point 16.0 to the classification of 
curtain rods and tubes under this heading. Although the IHSEN in point 17.1 
provide that metal curtain rods, tubes and bars for curtains, which are simply cut 
to length, including perforated profiles, tubes and bars, are classified according to 
their quality, that does not exclude the classification of the goods to be assessed in 
the present case under heading 8302 HS. In the opinion of the chamber, the tubes 
REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING OF 9.4.2019 — CASE C-670/19 
 
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imported by the applicant are not simply cut to length, on account of their surface 
treatment. 
29 Classification under heading 8302 HS is also supported by the fact that, otherwise, 
despite curtain rods and tubes being expressly mentioned in the IHSEN on this 
heading, it is difficult to imagine a case in which use as a curtain rod would 
emerge from the objective properties of the tube itself. 
The second question: 
30 Should the first question be answered in the negative, it is also asked whether the 
article described can be classified under subheading 8302 4190 CN if the rods are 
imported together with other parts, from which the intended use as a curtain rod is 
apparent, even if the tubes are not packaged together with the other parts as a set 
and are also not imported in corresponding quantity. 
31 The tubes are indisputably covered by subheading 8302 4190 CN if they are 
imported as a set together with parts of the modular construction system. This was 
also confirmed to the applicant in binding tariff information of 20 August 2015 
([…] in respect of two tubes and one connecting piece, packaged together in a 
box). It is in question whether this applies even if the tubes are not packaged with 
other parts as a set, but are imported together with other parts of the modular 
construction system, from which the use as a curtain rod is apparent, even if the 
quantities of those other parts do not correspond to those of the tubes, because of 
their use in a modular construction system. 
32 Should the objective characteristics mentioned not be sufficient for classification 
under subheading 8302 4190 CN, the goods imported as curtain rods would have 
to be classified under subheading 7306 3077 CN. 
33 Heading 7306 HS reads ‘Other tubes, pipes and hollow profiles (e.g., open seam 
or welded, riveted or similarly closed), of iron or steel’. The goods imported by 
the applicant as curtain rods would also indisputably in any case be covered by 
that heading, specifically by subheading 7306 3077 CN. 
[…] [Signatures]