Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2012:500
Date: 2012-07-19
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Free movement of goods;Common customs tariff;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment 1. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Classification of goods — Criteria — Characteristics and objective properties of the good (Council Regulation No 2658/87, Annex I; Commission Regulation No 1549/2006) 2. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Polishing pads intended exclusively for semiconductor wafer-polishing machines imported separately from the machine — Classification under subheading 3919 90 10 of the Combined Nomenclature (Council Regulation No 2658/87, Annex I, subheading 3919 90 10; Commission Regulations No 1789/2003, No 1810/2004, No 1719/2005 and No 1549/2006) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 31-34) 2. The Combined Nomenclature in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, in the successive versions of the following regulations, amending Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87, No 1789/2003, No 1810/2004, No 1719/2005, and No 1549/2006, must be interpreted as meaning that polishing pads intended for a polishing machine for working semiconductor materials — as such coming under tariff heading 8464 (or heading 8486 since Regulation No 1549/2006 entered into force) — imported separately from the machine, in the form of discs perforated in the centre, made up of a hard polyurethane layer, a layer of polyurethane foam, an adhesive layer and a protective plastic film, which do not contain any metal part or any abrasive substance and are used to polish ‘wafers’, in combination with an abrasive liquid, and must be replaced at a frequency determined by their level of wear, come under subheading 3919 90 10, as self-adhesive flat shapes, other than squares or rectangles, made of plastic. Those polishing pads cannot be considered to be ‘parts’ or ‘accessories’ for use with semiconductor wafer-polishing machines and cannot therefore be classified under heading 8466 of the Combined Nomenclature (or heading 8486 of the Combined Nomenclature since Regulation No 1549/2006 entered into force), in so far as, first, polishing pads are not essential for the operation of wafer-polishing machines, second, the polishing pads in question do not enable those machines to be adapted for a particular operation, nor do they increase their range of operations, or enable them to perform a particular service connected with their main function. Furthermore, neither the fact that a good is intended exclusively to be used with a particular kind of machine nor the fact that it is possible that the machine may already be fitted with that good are relevant considerations for the purposes of classifying the good in question as a ‘part’ or ‘accessory’. (see paras 35, 37-40, operative part)