1.

In the grounds on which the order making the reference is based, the Bundesfinanzhof clarifies the above question by inquiring, in the first place, “whether the paper strip, which is peeled off when the adhesive strip is actually applied, is to be regarded as a package within the meaning of that tariff heading”. In the course of the lengthy procedure concerning the classification of the product, the first positive answer to the question was given, it would appear, by the Customs Laboratory and Training College, Hamburg-Altona, in its above-mentioned reports of January 1975 and 2 April 1976, requested by the Zollamt [Customs Office]. According to those reports, as quoted in the judgment of the Finanzgericht “the adhesive strip wound on to a spool, not exceeding one kg in weight, should be regarded as put up for sale by retail”. In view of the terms in which subheading 35.06 B is couched, that opinion seems to imply that the winding of the product on to a spool constitutes both the packaging and the manner in which the product is put up for sale by retail. In its judgment of 11 November 1976, the Finanzgericht Rheinland-Pfalz answers the question along the same lines, but with greater precision , when it states that the packaging of the adhesive substance consists in the fact that the latter “is spread on a paper strip and wound on to a spool”. In the course of these proceedings for a preliminary ruling, the Commission has adopted a similar point of view. Admittedly, it has acknowledged that, in the present case, it would be artificial to consider the strip of paper on which the adhesive substance is spread as. a package. However, in its view, it would also be going too far to require the strips to be contained in special packages, for example, cardboard boxes. It would be sufficient, for the requirements of tariff subheading 35.06 B to be satisfied in that respect, if the strips were “identifiable as being intended for sale directly to consumers without further packaging”. In my opinion, that approach is incompatible with the unequivocal wording of the heading under consideration which includes the word “package ...” and, accordingly, with General Rule No 1, for the Interpretation of the Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff which states that classification is to be “determined according to the terms of the headings”. Admittedly, those terms are capable of being interpreted, in particular with the aid of the Explanatory Notes to the Common Customs Tariff and, in addition, the Explanatory Notes to the Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature. However, they may not be given an interpretation so wide as to render certain of them meaningless. That is precisely the result of the interpretation suggested by the Commission. In support of that interpretation, the Commission relies primarily on the Explanatory Notes to the Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature relating to subheading 35.06 B. However, it is impossible to place on an equal footing “a paper band wrapped round ... a slab of bone glue”, which is referred to in those Notes and is a genuine, if scant packaging, on the one hand, and on the other the lining paper separating the adhesive surfaces in this case which fulfils an entirely different function, as Chem-Tec has stated without being contradicted. Those strips of paper treated with silicone, “lining paper” as they are known, constitute indispensable components in the manufacture and use of the adhesive strips at issue. As I have said, those strips are, as is true moreover of all double-sided adhesive strips, subsequently wound on to a cardboard spool. To prevent the different adhesive layers from sticking together, which would render them unusable, it is necessary to separate them with the strips of paper, which thus enable the adhesive tape to be unrolled and applied to the articles requiring adhesion. The finding that the “lining paper” constitutes the necessary backing of the adhesive strip itself may not be dismissed on the ground that it is peeled off when the tape is applied. That merely proves that the paper does not form an integral part of the product at issue, which is only the adhesive substance, but it is not sufficient to enable the conclusion to be drawn that it is a package. It may not be argued from the fact that a component is indispensable for the use of a product and is withdrawn upon use that it constitutes the packaging for that product. Accordingly, I am inclined therefore to take the view that the answer to the first part of the second question raised by the Bundesfinanzhof should be that the adhesive strips in question must be contained in special packages which do not exceed the weight limit prescribed by the terms of subheading 35.06 B.