Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Common Customs Tariff ° Tariff headings ° Throat pastilles with secondary therapeutic or prophylactic effect ° Classification under heading 17.04

2. Common Customs Tariff ° Tariff headings ° Tonic beverages containing small proportions of medicinal substances ° Classification under heading 22.09

3. Common Customs Tariff ° Tariff headings ° Subheading 17.04 D I ° Classification Regulation No 717/85 ° Scope

(Commission Regulation No 717/85)

4. Common Customs Tariff ° Tariff headings ° Product consisting of sugar, but above all of active flavouring agents, used solely for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes ° Classification under heading 30.03

Summary

1. Having regard to their composition, presentation and purpose, throat pastilles such as those consisting essentially of sugar, terpene, menthol, amylocaine hydrochloride and glycirrhizin as well as a binding agent, flavouring and colouring, or of sugar, menthol, peppermint essence and eucalyptus oil as well as a binding agent, flavouring and colouring and presented as being for use against coughs and sore throats fall under tariff heading 17.04 (sugar confectionery not containing cocoa) and not under heading 30.03, which covers medicaments.

The secondary therapeutic or prophylactic effect which those pastilles might have, in particular in soothing the pain of a sore throat, is not enough to call in question their classification under heading 17.04, as indeed stated in the Explanatory Notes drawn up by both the Customs Cooperation Council and the Harmonized System Committee, since it may entail classification under heading 30.03 only if it is due to the medicinal properties of the flavouring agents present in proportions such that the product can be used only for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes.

2. Having regard to their composition, presentation and purpose, tonic beverages such as mixtures containing, besides water, alcohol and sugar, certain bitter and flavouring substances, nux vomica and calcium glycerophosphate, and used for debility and anorexia and in convalescence, or containing distilled water, syrup and alcohol to which are added sodium arsenate, sodium nucleinate, nux vomica, calf-liver extract and various flavourings, come under heading 22.09 (undenatured ethyl alcohol of an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 80% vol.; spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages) and not under heading 30.03, which covers medicaments.

First, as spirituous beverages designed to maintain general health, they must be classified under heading 22.09 according to the Explanatory Notes on Chapter 22 of both the Customs Cooperation Council and the Harmonized System Committee and, secondly, they are specifically excluded from heading 30.03 by the explanatory notes at the beginning of Chapter 30 and cannot, according to the explanatory notes, fall within Chapter 30 even if medicinal substances have been added, once the latter have been added solely to ensure a better dietetic balance, to increase the energy-giving or nutritional value of the product or to improve its flavour and do not remove its character of a foodstuff.

3. Regulation No 717/85 on the classification of goods within subheading 17.04 D I of the Common Customs Tariff (sugar confectionery not containing cocoa: Other: Containing no milkfats or containing less than 1.5% by weight of such fats) may not be interpreted as referring to goods whose composition (percentage by weight) is different from that indicated in Article 1 of that regulation.

4. Heading 30.03 of the Common Customs Tariff, which covers medicaments, is to be interpreted as including a product consisting of sugar, but above all of active flavouring agents with medicinal properties in such a proportion that it is used only for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. Nevertheless, where the proportion of flavouring agents in the composition of each product does not enable the product to be used only for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes, it cannot be regarded as a pharmaceutical product falling under that heading.