Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2001:437
Date: 2001-09-11
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

SUMMARY — CASE C-276/00 
Summary of the Judgment 
Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Ink-cartridge without integrated print 
head which can only be used in a particular type of printer — Classification under 
sub-heading No 3215 90 80 of the Combined Nomenclature 
Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the 
tariff and statistical nomenclature and on 
the Common Customs Tariff, as amended 
by Regulation No 1734/96, must be inter­
preted as meaning that an ink-cartridge 
without integrated print head, consisting of 
plastic casing, foam, a metal screen, seals, 
tape seal, labels, ink and packing material, 
is to be classified, pursuant to general rule 
3(b) for the interpretation of the Combined 
Nomencla ture , under sub-heading 
No 3215 90 80 of the Combined Nomen­
clature. The element which gives the car­
tridge its essential character is the ink 
which it contains. 
The fact, moreover, that the product in 
question can only be used, as regards both 
the cartridge and the ink, in a particular 
type of printer does not mean that it can be 
described as a 'part' or 'accessory' of a 
printer within the meaning of heading 8473 
of the Combined Nomenclature, in so far 
as the cartridge plays no particular role in 
the actual mechanical functioning of the 
printer and merely enables it to fulfil its 
usual function. 
(see paras 27, 31-32, 35, operative part) 
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