Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 19 October 2000 in Case C-15/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Bremen): Hans Sommer GmbH & Co. KG v Hauptzollamt Bremen (Common Customs Tariff — Customs value — Cost of analysing goods — Post-clearance recovery of import duties Remission of import duties)
Date: 2001-01-06
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: CCT duties, customs valuation, honey, import, interpretation of the law, product quality

6.1.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 4/1

I

(Information)

COURT OF JUSTICE

COURT OF JUSTICE

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber)

of 19 October 2000

in Case C-15/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Finanzgericht Bremen): Hans Sommer GmbH & Co.
KG v Hauptzollamt Bremen (1)

(Common Customs Tariff — Customs value — Cost of
analysing goods — Post-clearance recovery of import duties
Remission of import duties)

(2001/C 4/01)

(Language of the case: German)

(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
in the European Court Reports)

In Case C-15/99: reference to the Court under Article 177 of
the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Finanzgericht
Bremen (Finance Court, Bremen), Germany, for a preliminary
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Hans Sommer GmbH &amp, Co. KG and Hauptzollamt
Bremen — on the interpretation of

— Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1224/80 of
28 May 1980 on the valuation of goods for customs
purposes (OJ 1980 L 134, p. 1), as amended by Council
Regulation (EEC) No 3193/80 of 8 December 1980 (OJ
1980 L 333, p. 1),

— Article 5(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1697/79 of
24 July 1979 on the post-clearance recovery of import
duties or export duties which have not been required of
the person liable for payment on goods entered for a
customs procedure involving the obligation to pay such
duties (OJ 1979 L 197, p. 1),

— Article 13 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1430/79 of
2 July 1979 on the repayment or remission of import or
export duties (OJ 1979 L 175, p. 1), as amended by
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3069/86 of 7 October 1986
(OJ 1986 L 286, p. 1),

and on the validity of Commission Decision C(95) 2325 final
of 28 September 1995, the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed
of: D.A.O. Edward, President of the Chamber, P. Jann (Rappor-
J. Mischo, Advocate General;
teur) and L. Sevo´ n,
R. Grass, Registrar, has given a judgment on 19 October 2000,
in which it has ruled:

Judges;

1.

2.

The costs of analyses designed to establish the conformity of
imported goods with the national legislation of the importing
Member State, which the importer invoices to the buyer in
addition to the price of the goods, must be regarded as an
integral part of their ‘transaction value’ within the meaning of
Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1224/80 of
28 May 1980 on the valuation of goods for customs purposes,
as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3193/80 of
8 December 1980.

The customs authorities of a Member State must refrain from
post clearance recovery of duty pursuant to Article 5(2) of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1697/79 of 24 July 1979 on
the post-clearance recovery of import duties or export duties
which have not been required of the person liable for payment
of goods entered for a customs procedure involving the obligation
to pay such duties, if, at a previous on-the-spot inspection of
importations, they raised no objection to the non-inclusion of
flat-rate expenses in the customs value of similar transactions
and it does not appear that the trader, who had complied with
all of the provisions laid down by the rules in force as far as his
customs declaration is concerned, could have been in doubt
about the correctness of the results of the inspection.

(1) OJ C 86 of 27.3.1999.