Joined Cases C-532/14 and C-533/14: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 12 May 2016 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden — Netherlands) — Toorank Productions BV v Staatssecretaris van Financiën (References for a preliminary ruling — Common Customs Tariff — Classification for customs purposes — Combined Nomenclature — Tariff heading 2206 — Tariff heading 2208 — Alcoholic beverages obtained through fermentation followed by purification — Addition of additives to alcoholic beverages obtained through fermentation followed by purification — Beverages which have lost the properties of beverages falling under tariff heading 2206)
Date: 2016-05-12
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Combined Nomenclature, alcoholic beverage, common customs tariff, food technology, specification of tariff heading








C_2016243EN.01001101.xml










4.7.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 243/11





Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 12 May 2016 (requests for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden — Netherlands) — Toorank Productions BV v Staatssecretaris van Financiën
(Joined Cases C-532/14 and C-533/14) (1)

((References for a preliminary ruling - Common Customs Tariff - Classification for customs purposes - Combined Nomenclature - Tariff heading 2206 - Tariff heading 2208 - Alcoholic beverages obtained through fermentation followed by purification - Addition of additives to alcoholic beverages obtained through fermentation followed by purification - Beverages which have lost the properties of beverages falling under tariff heading 2206))
(2016/C 243/10)
Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Hoge Raad der Nederlanden

Parties to the main proceedings


Appellant: Toorank Productions BV

Respondent: Staatssecretaris van Financiën

Operative part of the judgment







1.


On a proper construction of 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, in the versions resulting from Commission Regulation (EC) No 1719/2005 of 27 October 2005 and from Commission Regulation (EC) No 1214/2007 of 20 September 2007, a beverage, such as Ferm Fruit, which is obtained through fermentation of an apple concentrate and is designed to be consumed either undiluted or as a base in other beverages, being neutral in terms of colour, smell and taste as a result of purification (including ultrafiltration) and having an alcoholic strength by volume, without the addition of distilled alcohol, of 16 % falls under heading 2208 of that nomenclature.










2.


On a proper construction of the Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87, in the versions resulting from Regulation No 1719/2005 and from Regulation No 1214/2007, beverages with an alcoholic strength by volume of 14 % which are manufactured by adding sugar, aromatic substances, colouring and flavouring agents, thickening agents and preservatives and, for one of those beverages, cream, to Ferm Fruit, and which do not contain distilled alcohol, fall under heading 2208 of that nomenclature.










3.


On a proper construction of the Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87, in the versions resulting from Regulation No 1719/2005 and from Regulation No 1214/2007, a beverage with an alcoholic strength by volume of 13,4 % which is manufactured by adding sugar, aromatic substances, colouring and flavouring agents, thickening agents, preservatives and distilled alcohol to Ferm Fruit, where that distilled alcohol does not exceed, either in volume or percentage, 49 % of the alcohol present in that beverage, with the remaining 51 % resulting from a process of fermentation, falls under heading 2208 of that nomenclature.






(1)  OJ C 65, 23.2.2015.