WERE COMPLETED ) AMENDS , MOREOVER WITH RETROACTIVE EFFECT , THE AMBIT OF TARIFF HEADINGS 15.13 AND 21.07 , IS THEREFORE CONTRARY TO THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT OF THOSE HEADINGS , AND HENCE EXCEEDS THE AUTHORITY CONFERRED UPON THE COMMISSION BY THE BASIC REGULATION NO 97/69 OF THE COUNCIL OF 16 JANUARY 1969 ( OJ , ENGLISH SPECIAL EDITION 1969 ( I ), P . 12 ).
THE COMMISSION MAINTAINS THAT REGULATION NO 496/69 MERELY INTERPRETS THE TARIFF HEADING IN QUESTION WITH BINDING EFFECT , BY CLARIFYING THE CONTENT AND SCOPE WHICH THAT HEADING HAD EVEN BEFORE THE REGULATION ENTERED INTO FORCE .
4 IN ITS FIRST QUESTION , THE NATIONAL COURT ASKS WHETHER , BEFORE THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF REGULATION NO 496/69 , TARIFF HEADING 15.13 OF THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF WAS TO BE INTERPRETED AS APPLYING TO FOOD PREPARATIONS CONSISTING OF THE FOLLOWING :
- FOR THE FIRST TWO CONSIGNMENTS :
85 % PURE BUTYRIC FAT ( 99.5 % )
10 % REFINED SUET
5 % SESAME OIL
- AND FOR THE OTHER CONSIGNMENTS :
85 % BUTYRIC FAT
5 % CURD
5 % SKIMMED MILK POWDER
5 % REFINED SUET OF BOVINE ANIMALS .
IN ITS SECOND QUESTION , THE NATIONAL COURT ASKS , IN THE EVENT OF AN AFFIRMATIVE ANSWER TO QUESTION 1 , WHETHER REGULATION NO 496/69 OF 18 MARCH 1969 IS VALID OR INVALID , IN THAT IT DOES NOT SPECIFY THE CONTENT OF TARIFF HEADINGS 15.13 AND 21.07 BUT AMENDS THEM AND CONSEQUENTLY IS NOT COVERED BY REGULATION NO 97/69 OF 16 JANUARY 1969 .
5 HEADING 15.13 OF THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF APPLIES TO GOODS DESCRIBED AS ' MARGARINE , IMITATION LARD AND OTHER PREPARED EDIBLE FATS ' .
IT APPEARS FROM THE QUESTION REFERRED THAT THE PRINCIPAL FAT INGREDIENT OF THE PRODUCTS DESCRIBED BY THE NATIONAL COURT IS BUTYRIC FAT , TO WHICH SMALL PERCENTAGES OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FATS ARE ADDED .
6 THE EXPLANATORY NOTES TO THE BRUSSELS NOMENCLATURE AND THE NOTES EXPLICATIVES DU TARIF DOUANIER COMMUN CONSIDER ' BUTYRIC FAT ' TO BE ONE OF THE PRODUCTS COVERED BY THE CONCEPT OF ' BUTTER ' , WITHIN THE MEANING OF TARIFF HEADING 04.03 OF THE CHAPTER CONCERNING , INTER ALIA , ' DAIRY PRODUCE ' .
FURTHERMORE , THE TEXT OF THE NOTES EXPLICATIVES DU TARIF DOUANIER COMMUN RELATING TO THAT HEADING SPECIFIES THAT FOOD PREPARATIONS BASED ON ' BUTTERFAT ' COME UNDER HEADING 21.07 .
IN LISTING THE PRODUCTS INCLUDED IN HEADING 21.07 , THOSE NOTES CONFIRM , IN PARTICULAR UNDER LETTER D II , THAT THE FATS OF WHICH THE FOOD PREPARATIONS REFERRED TO IN THAT HEADING CONSIST ARE ' MILKFATS ' .
7 IN VIEW OF THIS INFORMATION THE PRODUCTS REFERRED TO IN THE QUESTION , HOWEVER THE IMPORTER MAY DESCRIBE THEM , CANNOT , BY VIRTUE OF THE FAT OF WHICH THEY MAINLY CONSIST , BE CONSIDERED AS FOOD PREPARATIONS COMING UNDER HEADING 15.13 , WHICH COVERS OTHER FATS , EITHER VEGETABLE