Case C-351/04: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 27 September 2007 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice (Chancery Division), United Kingdom) — Ikea Wholesale Ltd v Commissioners of Customs & Excise (Dumping — Imports of cotton-type bed linen from Egypt, India and Pakistan — Regulation (EC) No 2398/97 — Regulation (EC) No 1644/2001 — Regulation (EC) No 160/2002 — Regulation (EC) No 696/2002 — Recommendations and decisions of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body — Legal consequences — Regulation (EC) No 1515/2001 — Retroactivity — Reimbursement of duties paid)
Date: 2007-11-24
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Dispute Settlement Body, EU law, Egypt, India, Pakistan, anti-dumping duty, import, interpretation of the law, textile product

C 283/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

24.11.2007

V

(Announcements)

COURT PROCEEDINGS

COURT OF JUSTICE

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 27 September
2007 (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the High
Court of Justice (Chancery Division), United Kingdom) —
Ikea Wholesale Ltd v Commissioners of Customs & Excise

(Case C-351/04) (1)

(Dumping — Imports of cotton-type bed linen from Egypt,
India and Pakistan — Regulation (EC) No 2398/97 — Regu-
lation (EC) No 1644/2001 — Regulation (EC) No 160/2002
— Regulation (EC) No 696/2002 — Recommendations and
decisions of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body — Legal
consequences — Regulation (EC) No 1515/2001 — Retroacti-
vity — Reimbursement of duties paid)

tion with regard to imports originating in India (OJ 2001 L 219,
p. 1) — Validity of Council Regulation (EC) No 160/2002 of
28 January 2002 amending Regulation No 2398/97 and termi-
nating the proceeding with regard to imports originating in
Pakistan (OJ 2002 L 26, p. 1) — Validity of Council Regulation
(EC) No 696/2002 of 22 April 2002 confirming the definitive
anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of cotton-type bed
linen originating in India by Regulation No 2398/97 (OJ 2002
L 109, p. 3)

(2007/C 283/02)

Language of the case: English

Operative part of the judgment

1. Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2398/97 of
28 November 1997 imposing a definitive anti-dumping duty on
imports of cotton-type bed linen originating in Egypt, India and
Pakistan is invalid in so far as the Council of the European Union
applied, for the purpose of determining the dumping margin for
the product subject to the investigation, the practice of
‘zeroing’
negative dumping margins for each of the product types concerned.

2. An importer, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which
has brought an action before a national court against the decisions
by which the collection of anti-dumping duties is claimed from it
under Regulation No 2398/97, declared invalid by this judgment,
is, in principle, entitled to rely on that invalidity in the dispute in
the main proceedings in order to obtain repayment of those duties
in accordance with Article 236(1) of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community
Customs Code.

(1) OJ C 262, 23.10.2004.

Referring court

High Court of Justice (Chancery Division)

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Ikea Wholesale Ltd

Defendant: Commissioners of Customs & Excise

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — High Court of Justice
(Chancery Division) — Validity of Council Regulation (EC)
No 2398/97 of 28 November 1997 imposing a definitive anti-
dumping duty on imports of cotton-type bed linen originating
in Egypt, India and Pakistan (OJ 1997 L 332, p. 1) — Validity
of Council Regulation (EC) No 1644/2001 of 7 August 2001
amending Regulation No 2398/97 and suspending its applica-