Case C-24/90 
Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas 
v 
Werner Faust OHG 
(Reference for a preliminary ruling 
from the Bundesfinanzhof) 
(Preserved mushrooms — Protective measures) 
Repon for the Hearing I - 4^06 
Opinion of Mr Advocate General Jacobs delivered on 11 July 1991 1-4915 
Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 16 October 1991 I - 4928 
Summary of the Judgment 
/. Agriculture — Common organization of the markets — Products processed from fruit and 
vegetables — Protective measures applicable to imports of preserved mushrooms — Levy of 
an additional amount — Products subject to the levy — Products released into free circulation 
without a valid import licence — Included 
(Commission Regulation No 3429/80, Art. 1) 
2. Agriculture — Common organization of the markets — Products processed from fruit and 
vegetables — Protective measures applicable to imports of preserved mushrooms — Levy of 
an additional amount — Fixed at a flat rate based on the cost of grade 1 preserved 
mushrooms produced in the Community— Disproportionate financial charge for importers of 
lower-grade products — Breach of the principle of proportionality — Unlawful 
(Council Regulation No 521/77, Art. 2(2); Commission Regulation No 3429/80, Art. 1) 
I - 4905 
REPORT FOR THE HEARING — CASE C-24/90 
1. The additional amount provided for in 
Article 1 of Regulation No 3429/80 
adopting protective measures applicable 
to imports of preserved mushrooms must 
be levied not only on imports in excess of 
the quantities for which an import licence 
has been issued but also where it 
becomes apparent, following the release 
of such preserved products into free 
circulation in the Community, that the 
import licence accompanying them was 
not valid. 
2. By fixing, by Regulation No 3429/80, 
the additional amount on imports of 
preserved mushrooms at a flat rate corre­
sponding to the cost price on the 
Community market of grade 1 preserved 
mushrooms originating in the leading 
producing country in the Community, the Commission infringed the principle 
of proportionality. It was not necessary 
to fix that amount at such a level in 
order to achieve the objective pursued by 
its introduction, namely the prevention of 
disturbances on the Community market, 
and thereby penalize importers of 
lower-grade mushrooms by imposing a 
disproportionate financial charge on 
them. That was not the objective pursued 
by the levy of the amount in question 
and in any event Article 2(2) of Regu­
lation No 521/77 authorized the 
Commission to take account, inter alia, 
of the origin or quality of the 
mushrooms and if necessary, in the light 
of those factors, to fix additional 
amounts of different levels. Accordingly, 
Article 1 of Regulation No 3429/80 is 
invalid as regards the level of the 
additional amount fixed. 
REPORT FOR THE HEARING 
in Case C-24/90 * 
I — Legislative background 
1. Preserved mushrooms, being 'vegetables 
prepared or preserved otherwise than by 
vinegar or acetic acid' (subheading number 
20.02 of the Common Customs Tariff), are 
covered by a common organization of the 
market, pursuant to Article 1 of Council 
Regulation (EEC) No 516/77 of 14 March 1977 on the common organization of the 
market in products processed from fruit and 
vegetables (Official Journal 1977 L 73, p. 1). 
2. Regulation No 516/77 provides that 
imports into the Community of the products 
listed in Annex IX are to be subject to an 
impon certificate issued by the Member 
States (Article 10) and authorizes the 
* Language of the case: German. 
I - 4906