Commission Regulation (EC) No 437/2006 of  16 March 2006  concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature
Date: 2006-03-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Combined Nomenclature, clothing

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 437/2006

of 16 March 2006

concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23
July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the
Common Customs Tariff (1), and in particular Article 9(1)(a)
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined
Nomenclature annexed to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87,
it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classi-
fication of the goods referred to in the Annex to this
Regulation.

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general
rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomen-
clature. Those rules apply also to any other nomenclature
which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any
additional subdivision to it and which is established by
specific Community provisions, with a view to the appli-
cation of tariff and other measures relating to trade in
goods.

Pursuant to those general rules, the goods described in
column 1 of the table set out in the Annex should be
classified under the CN code indicated in column 2, by
virtue of the reasons set out in column 3.

It is appropriate to provide that, subject to the measures
in force in the Community relating to double checking
systems and to prior and retrospective Community
surveillance of textile products on importation into the

Community, binding tariff
information issued by the
customs authorities of Member States in respect of the
classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature
and which is not in accordance with this Regulation,
can continue to be invoked for a period of 60 days by
the holder, under Article 12(6) of Council Regulation
(EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing
the Community Customs Code (2).

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Customs Code
Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The goods described in column 1 of the table set out in the
Annex shall be classified within the Combined Nomenclature
under the CN code indicated in column 2.

Article 2

Subject to the measures in force in the Community relating to
checking systems and to prior and retrospective
double
textile products on importation
Community surveillance of
into the Community, binding tariff information issued by the
customs
in
accordance with this Regulation, can continue to be invoked
for a period of 60 days, under Article 12(6) of Regulation (EEC)
No 2913/92.

authorities of Member States which is not

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
the European
that of
Union.

its publication in the Official

Journal of

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 16 March 2006.

For the Commission

László KOVÁCS
Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 267/2006 (OJ L 47, 17.2.2006, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 648/2005 of the European Parliament and of the
Council (OJ L 117, 4.5.2005, p. 13).

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Description of the goods

(1)

fibres

fabrics

Self-coloured lightweight garment made from
(90 %
knitted
of man-made
intended to
polyamide, 10 % elastomeric yarn)
cover the lower part of the body from the waist
to above the mid-thigh area, enclosing each leg
separately, with an opening at the front without
any closing system and without an opening at the
waist. The garment has an elasticated waist band
and is hemmed at the leg ends.

There are patch pockets on both sides of
the
garment, having a zip fastening system and
holding a mass-produced removable, oval
insert.
The inserts are made of a hard plastic material on
the outside and are padded with foam on the
inside. They are designed to prevent injuries to
the hips in case of a fall. They absorb shocks to
the hip area of the body.

(men's underpants)

(See photographs No 636 A + B + C) (*)

(*) The photographs are purely for information.

ANNEX

Classification
CN code

(2)

6107 12 00

Reasons

(3)

Classification is determined by the provisions of
General Rules 1, 3(b) and 6 for the interpretation
first
of
paragraph of Note 9 to Chapter 61 and the
wording of CN code 6107 and 6107 12 00.

the Combined Nomenclature,

the

The inserts are designed to prevent injuries to the
hips in case of a fall. Therefore,
the garment
cannot be classified in heading 9021 as ‘ortho-
paedic appliance’, because the inserts neither
prevent bodily deformities nor do they support
or hold parts of the body within the meaning
of the first paragraph of Note 6 to Chapter 90.

The article lacks the essential characteristics of the
goods covered by Chapter 90, i.e. a high ‘finish of
their manufacture and a high degree of precision’
in the way they operate (see paragraph 37 of the
Judgment of European Court of Justice in joined
cases C-260/00 to C-263/00 of 7 November
2002 and see also the first paragraph of
the
HS Explanatory Notes to Chapter 90, General,
Part (I)).

Moreover, the inserts are neither made to measure
nor are they adjustable to fit a wearer's specific
garment
morphology, which makes
an
the
‘ordinary product’ and, as such,
is excluded
from heading 9021 by virtue of paragraph 37
of abovementioned Judgment.

it

This is a composite article consisting of textile
underpants and plastic inserts. It is designed as
underpants that also provide protection against
certain injuries. Thus, within the meaning of
General Rule 3(b) the essential character is given
by the underpants and not by the inserts.

is classified as men's or boys'
The garment
garment within the meaning of
first
paragraph of Note 9 to Chapter 61, because its
cut (especially the particular form of the opening
at the front) indicates clearly that the garment is
designed for men.

the

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