Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2006:259
Date: 2006-04-27
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 1. Common Customs Tariff – Tariff headings – Vehicles with the capacity to tow three times their own weight or more – Commission Regulation No 2518/98 (Commission Regulation No 2518/98) 2. Common Customs Tariff – Tariff headings – New all terrain four-wheeled vehicles with the capacity to push twice their own weight or more 1. Point 5 of the table annexed to Regulation No 2518/98 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature is invalid, by adopting a capacity different from that contained in the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System Committee’s classification opinion of 1999, for vehicles described in subheading 8703 21 10 of the Combined Nomenclature, to tow loads three times their own weight or more, and thereby extending the scope of the heading concerning vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons. (see para. 51, operative part 1) 2. New all terrain four-wheeled vehicles with one seat only, fitted with Ackerman steering controlled by a handlebar, equipped with a towing hitch and the technical characteristics of which enable them to push twice their own weight or more, must be classified in subheading 8701 90 of the Combined Nomenclature. It is for the national court to classify such vehicles in the subheadings which correspond to their engine power. (see para. 59, operative part 2)