Commission Regulation (EC) No 360/2008 of 18 April 2008 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff
Date: 2008-04-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common customs tariff, fruit juice, tariff nomenclature, vegetable juice

23.4.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 111/9

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 360/2008

of 18 April 2008

amending Annex I

to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical

nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(5)

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)

For the classification of fruit juices within the Combined
Nomenclature annexed to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87,
a distinction is to be made between, on the one hand,
fruit juices containing added sugar of heading 2009 and,
on the other hand, preparations for the manufacture of
beverages including flavoured sugar syrups of heading
2106.

According to the Harmonised System Explanatory Note
to heading 2009, amongst other additives, sugar can be
added to fruit
they retain their
juices, provided that
original character.

fruit

juices or mixtures of

Consequently fruit
juices,
whether or not containing added sugar, are to be
classified in the subheadings of heading 2009 of the
Combined Nomenclature, unless they have lost
their
original character of
In the last case they
fruit
have to be excluded from classification under heading
2009 and have to be classified under heading 2106.

juice.

In accordance with Additional Note 5(b) to Chapter 20
of the Combined Nomenclature, fruit juices to which so
much sugar has been added that they contain less than
50 % by weight of fruit juice have lost their natural state
of fruit juice and can therefore not be classified under
heading 2009. The added sugar content
to be
value which
determined
depends, amongst others, on the sugar content of these
products.

to their Brix

according

is

Problems have risen with respect to the classification of
concentrated natural fruit juices. When the added sugar
content of those products is calculated as set out in
Additional Notes 2 and 5, it may appear to be so high
that products contain less than 50 % by weight of fruit
juices so that they have to be classified under heading
2106. This result is unsatisfactory as it is based on a
fictive calculation of the added sugar content while in
reality no sugar has been added and the high added
sugar content results from the concentration.

It is therefore appropriate to reword point (b) of Ad-
ditional Note 5 to Chapter 20 and to add a new
provision to that point, clearly stating that for concen-
trated natural fruit juices the criterion of 50 % by weight
of fruit juices does not apply so that those juices are not
to be excluded from heading 2009 on the basis of a
calculated addition of sugar.
It should also be clearly
stated that Additional Note 5 is to be applied on the
products as presented.

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

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

(6)

(7)

(8)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Additional note 5 to Chapter 20 of
the Combined No-
menclature annexed to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 is
replaced by the following text:

‘5. The following shall be applied to the products as they are

presented:

(a)

the added sugar content of products of heading 2009
corresponds to the “sugar content” less the figures
juice
given hereunder, according to the kind of
concerned:

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

(EC) No 275/2008 (OJ L 85, 27.3.2008, p. 3).

— lemon or tomato juice: 3,

L 111/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.4.2008

— grape juice: 15,

— other fruit or vegetable juices, including mixtures

of juices: 13.

(b) the fruit juices with added sugar, of a Brix value not
exceeding 67 and containing less than 50 % by
weight of fruit juice lose their original character of
fruit juices of heading 2009.

Point (b) shall not apply to concentrated natural fruit
juices. Consequently, concentrated natural
juices
are not excluded from heading 2009.’

fruit

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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

Done at Brussels, 18 April 2008.

For the Commission

László KOVÁCS
Member of the Commission