Case C‑58/14

Hauptzollamt Hannover

v

Amazon EU Sàrl

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 — Customs union and Common Customs Tariff — Combined Nomenclature — Heading 8543 70 — Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in Chapter 85 of the Combined Nomenclature — Subheadings 8543 70 10 and 8543 70 90 — Reading devices for electronic books with translation or dictionary functions’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber), 11 June 2015

Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Reading devices for electronic books which have a translation or dictionary function — Classification under subheading 8543 70 90 of the Combined Nomenclature

(Council Regulation No 2658/87, Annex I)

The Combined Nomenclature in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Regulation No 861/2010, must be interpreted as meaning that a reading device for electronic books which has a translation or dictionary function must, where that function is not its principal function, that being a matter for the national court to ascertain, be classified under subheading 8543 70 90 as an electrical apparatus, and not under subheading 8543 70 10 as an electrical machine with translation or dictionary functions.

The Combined Nomenclature does not contain any subheading the wording of which expressly refers to an electrical apparatus whose principal function is that of reading. However, it cannot be concluded that, in absence of a subheading in the Combined Nomenclature corresponding exactly to the principal function of such an apparatus, the apparatus must be classified under a specific subheading on the basis of one of its ancillary functions. The tariff classification of a product must be made having regard to its principal function, and not to one of its ancillary functions, even in a situation where there is no Combined Nomenclature subheading corresponding specifically to that principal function. Therefore, in the absence in the Combined Nomenclature of a subheading corresponding to the principal function of a product, that product must be classified under a residual subheading of the Combined Nomenclature.

(see paras 16, 21-23, 25-27, operative part)

Case C‑58/14

Hauptzollamt Hannover

v

Amazon EU Sàrl

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundesfinanzhof)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 — Customs union and Common Customs Tariff — Combined Nomenclature — Heading 8543 70 — Electrical machines and apparatus, having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in Chapter 85 of the Combined Nomenclature — Subheadings 8543 70 10 and 8543 70 90 — Reading devices for electronic books with translation or dictionary functions’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber), 11 June 2015

Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Reading devices for electronic books which have a translation or dictionary function — Classification under subheading 8543 70 90 of the Combined Nomenclature

(Council Regulation No 2658/87, Annex I)

The Combined Nomenclature in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Regulation No 861/2010, must be interpreted as meaning that a reading device for electronic books which has a translation or dictionary function must, where that function is not its principal function, that being a matter for the national court to ascertain, be classified under subheading 8543 70 90 as an electrical apparatus, and not under subheading 8543 70 10 as an electrical machine with translation or dictionary functions.

The Combined Nomenclature does not contain any subheading the wording of which expressly refers to an electrical apparatus whose principal function is that of reading. However, it cannot be concluded that, in absence of a subheading in the Combined Nomenclature corresponding exactly to the principal function of such an apparatus, the apparatus must be classified under a specific subheading on the basis of one of its ancillary functions. The tariff classification of a product must be made having regard to its principal function, and not to one of its ancillary functions, even in a situation where there is no Combined Nomenclature subheading corresponding specifically to that principal function. Therefore, in the absence in the Combined Nomenclature of a subheading corresponding to the principal function of a product, that product must be classified under a residual subheading of the Combined Nomenclature.

(see paras 16, 21-23, 25-27, operative part)