Case C-173/15: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 9 March 2017 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf — Germany) — GE Healthcare GmbH v Hauptzollamt Düsseldorf (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Customs Union — Community Customs Code — Article 32(1)(c) — Determination of the customs value — Royalties or licence fees in respect of the goods being valued — Meaning — Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 — Article 160 — ‘Condition of sale’ of the goods being valued — Payment of royalties or licence fees to an undertaking related to both the seller and the buyer of the goods — Article 158(3) — Adjustment and apportionment measures)
Date: 2017-03-09
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: customs duties, customs union, customs valuation, goods and services, quasi-fiscal charge








C_2017144EN.01000301.xml










8.5.2017   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 144/3





Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 9 March 2017 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Düsseldorf — Germany) — GE Healthcare GmbH v Hauptzollamt Düsseldorf
(Case C-173/15) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Customs Union - Community Customs Code - Article 32(1)(c) - Determination of the customs value - Royalties or licence fees in respect of the goods being valued - Meaning - Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 - Article 160 - ‘Condition of sale’ of the goods being valued - Payment of royalties or licence fees to an undertaking related to both the seller and the buyer of the goods - Article 158(3) - Adjustment and apportionment measures))
(2017/C 144/03)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Finanzgericht Düsseldorf

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: GE Healthcare GmbH

Defendant: Hauptzollamt Düsseldorf

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 32(1)(c) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006 of 20 November 2006, must be interpreted as, first, not requiring the amount of royalties or licence fees to be determined at the time when a licence agreement was concluded or when the customs debt was incurred in order for those royalties or licence fees to be regarded as related to the goods being valued and, second, allowing such royalties or licence fees to be ‘related to the goods being valued’ even if those royalties or licence fees relate only partly to those goods.










2.


Article 32(1)(c) of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 1791/2006, and Article 160 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1875/2006 of 18 December 2006, must be interpreted as meaning that royalties or licence fees are a ‘condition of sale’ of the goods being valued where, within a single group of undertakings, those royalties or licence fees are required to be paid by an undertaking related to both the seller and the buyer and were paid to that same undertaking.










3.


Article 32(1)(c) of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 1791/2006, and Article 158(3) of Regulation No 2454/93, as amended by Regulation No 1875/2006, must be interpreted as meaning that the adjustment and apportionment measures, referred to in those provisions respectively, may be applied where the customs value of the goods at issue has been determined, not on the basis of Article 29 of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended, but on the basis of the alternative method laid down in Article 31 of that regulation.






(1)  OJ C 236, 20.7.2015.