Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2009:382
Date: 2009-06-18
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Concepts: The various tariff headings
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment Common Customs Tariff – Tariff headings – Cooling systems for computers composed of a heat sink and a fan (Council Regulation No 2658/87; Commission Regulation No 1789/2003) Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Regulation No 1789/2003, must be interpreted as meaning that goods made up of a heat sink and a fan and which are solely intended to be incorporated in a computer must be classified under subheading 8473 30 90 of the Combined Nomenclature in Annex I to that regulation. Since those goods are composed of two distinct elements, namely, a heat sink and a fan, without either of the two subheadings under which those elements could be classified being more specific than the other, it is appropriate, for the purposes of classifying those goods, to have recourse to the rule in paragraph 3(b) of the general rules and to identify, from among the elements of which they are composed, the one which gives them their essential character. In that regard, the element which gives them their essential character is the heat sink, and not the fan. Since the main purpose of those goods is to absorb the heat of the processor and conduct it away, the element which allows that function to be fulfilled, and which was specially designed for that purpose, is the heat sink. (see paras 29-34, 37-38, operative part)