Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:2348
Date: 2014-11-06
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Tenth Chamber
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber), 6 November 2014 Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Loudspeakers reproducing sound by transforming an electromagnetic signal into sound waves, which can be connected only to a computer and marketed separately — Classification under subheading 8518 22 90 of the Combined Nomenclature (Council Regulation No 2658/87, Annex I; Commission Regulations No 2388/2000, No 2031/2001, No 1832/2002 and No 1789/2003) The Combined Nomenclature set out 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 2388/2000, Regulation No 2031/2001, Regulation No 1832/2002 and Regulation No 1789/2003, must be interpreted as meaning that goods such as those at issue in the main proceedings, which are connected to a computer equipped with the operating system ‘MAC OS 9’ or a more advanced system, must be classified as loudspeakers in subheading 8518 22 90 of that nomenclature. Moreover, with regard to the interpretation of the word ‘loudspeaker’ in heading 8518 of the Combined Nomenclature, it is necessary to take into account Point B of the explanatory note to the harmonised commodity description and coding system relating to heading 8518, even for the period of importation of the goods concerned prior to the entry into force of that explanatory note. Since the wording of that heading, as regards ‘loudspeakers’, as amended by Regulation No 1789/2003, is identical to that of the same heading of the Combined Nomenclature, as amended by Regulations No 2388/2000, 2031/2001 and 1832/2002, a different meaning should not, in principle, be given to the word ‘loudspeaker’ from that which should be given to it taking into account Point B of that explanatory note. It follows from Point B of that explanatory note relating to heading 8518 of the Combined Nomenclature that it includes loudspeakers designed to be connected to an automatic data-processing machine, where they are presented separately. (see paras 41-43, operative part)