3.

The observations submitted in the course of the present procedure by the undertaking Carlsen and by the Commission have further helped to clarify the principal point to be settled: whether illustrated children's books in which the pictures are clearly more important than the text from the point of view of quantity and of their ‘interest’ for the young reader fall outside the special tariff heading 49.03 and come under the general heading 49.01 if the text does not merely describe the pictures or emphasize details which are already visually apparent, but is to a certain degree independent in that it supplements the pictures with additional information or ideas. It seems to me that a comparison of the original wording of the said Note 5 to Chapter 49 of the Common Customs Tariff with the present wording shows that, even if the text accompanying pictures in a children's picture book does not merely explain the content of the pictures but adds a new element, this of itself will not lead to the exclusion of the book from heading 49.03, which constitutes the specific tariff heading for illustrated books intended for children. To be so excluded it is necessary that the written text is of interest in itself rather than being subordinated to the pictures, that is, it must also have a value and meaning independent of the pictures. This view is confirmed by the Explanatory Notes to the Brussels Nomenclature which appear to me to bear the same meaning as Note 5 to Chapter 49 of the Common Customs Tariff, not a different one as the Bundesfinanzhof considered. The Brussels Explanatory Notes in fact make clear that tariff heading 49.03 covers not only picture books clearly intended for the amusement of children but also those which have an educational aim (examples of the latter are books intended to impart the rudiments of the alphabet or of vocabulary), provided that the pictures form the principal interest and that the text is only of subsidary interest. The Brussels Explanatory Notes list amongst such publications pictorial alphabet books and books in which the meaning of the narrative is conveyed by a series of pictures illustrating various episodes, accompanied by simple captions or brief explanations relating to each picture. However, the Brussels Explanatory Notes exclude from this heading books, even if profusely illustrated, which are written in the form of a continuous narrative, rather than being purely episodical, in which the pictures illustrate episodes included in that narrative; such books fall within tariff heading 49.01. It is clear from these explanations that it is irrelevant for the purposes of classification under either of the relevant tariff headings whether the purpose of a book is exclusively to amuse the child or whether its aim is chiefly educational. The Community provisions and the information derived from the Brussels Explanatory Notes which, although not binding, is persuasive, thus lead to an interpretation of tariff heading 49.03 which classifies under the latter all illustrated books for children in which the text, although not merely providing a description or explanation of the pictures, is none the less not such as to be of individual interest for its readers, as distinct from the pictures. It should further be observed that this result of a literal and logical interpretation of the provisions accords with considerations of a systematic nature as well as with the practical administrative requirements of the customs authorities. Since the Common Customs Tariff provides an appropriate heading for children's picture books, that heading being distinguished under the tariff from the general heading for printed books, booklets, brochures and pamphlets, the presence of the two elements characteristic of the more specific heading — that the book is intended for children and consists more of pictures than text — must prima facie be held sufficient for a publication to be classified under that heading unless it is clear that the text has intrinsic value independently of the pictures. In other words, when the customs authorities are confronted with publications which largely consist of pictures they may presume that those publications fall within heading 49.03, and that presumption may be rebutted only if it is clear that the text is of greater interest than the pictures.