Joined Cases C-410/08 to C-412/08: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 17 December 2009 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Baden-Württemberg (Germany)) — Swiss Caps AG v Hauptzollamt Singen (Common Customs Tariff — Combined Nomenclature — Tariff classification — Tariff headings 1515, 1517, 2106 and 3004 — Gelatin capsules — Fish oil, wheat-germ oil and black cumin oil — Concept of packaging )
Date: 2009-12-17
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Combined Nomenclature, Germany, food additive, interpretation of the law, vitamin








C_2010051EN.01000902.xml










27.2.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 51/9





Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 17 December 2009 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Baden-Württemberg (Germany)) — Swiss Caps AG v Hauptzollamt Singen
(Joined Cases C-410/08 to C-412/08) (1)

(Common Customs Tariff - Combined Nomenclature - Tariff classification - Tariff headings 1515, 1517, 2106 and 3004 - Gelatin capsules - Fish oil, wheat-germ oil and black cumin oil - Concept of ‘packaging’)
2010/C 51/14
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Finanzgericht Baden-Württemberg

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Swiss Caps AG

Defendant: Hauptzollamt Singen

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Finanzgericht Baden-Württemberg (Germany) — Interpretation of Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ 1987 L 256, p. 1) — Headings 1517 (‘Margarine; edible mixtures or preparations of animal or vegetable fats or oils or of fractions of different fats or oils of this chapter, other than edible fats or oils or their fractions of heading 1516’) and 2106 (‘Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included’) — Rule 5(b) in Part A of Section I of Part One of that annex — Tariff classification of a fish-oil preparation to which vitamin E has been added and which is contained in capsules consisting of gelatin, glycerol and water — Concept of ‘packing material’

Operative part of the judgment

The Combined Nomenclature, set out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2388/2000 of 13 October 2000, must be interpreted as meaning that:






—


edible preparations presented in the form of capsules containing 600 mg of cold-pressed concentrated fish oil and 22.8 mg of concentrated vitamin E in a casing consisting of 212.8 mg of gelatin, 77.7 mg of glycerol and 159.6 mg of purified water and intended for use as a food supplement;










—


edible preparations presented in the form of capsules containing 580 mg of wheat-germ oil in a casing consisting of 250 mg of granulated starch and intended for use as a food supplement; and










—


edible preparations presented in the form of capsules containing 500 mg of cold-pressed black cumin oil, 38.7 mg of soya oil, 18.8 mg of vitamin E, 16 mg of butterfat, 10 mg of lecithin, 8.2 mg of wax, 8 mg of calcium pantothenate, 0.2 mg of folic acid and 0.11 mg of biotin in a casing consisting of 313.97 mg of gelatin mass (47.3 % gelatin, 17.2 % glycerine, 35.5 % water), 4.30 mg of paste consisting of 50 % titanium dioxide and 50 % glycerine, and 1.73 mg of paste consisting of 25 % quinoline yellow lacquer and 75 % glycerine and intended for use as a food supplement




come under heading 2106 of the abovementioned Combined Nomenclature.


(1)  OJ C 313, 06.12.2008


OJ C 327, 20.12.2008