CONTENDS THAT THE STARTING POINT FOR COMPARISON OF THE APPARATUS MUST BE THE NATURE OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT AND NOT THE PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIC TO THE CASE IN QUESTION . OTHERWISE THE RESEARCH PROJECT COULD ALWAYS BE DEFINED IN SUCH A PARTICULAR WAY THAT ONLY ONE SPECIFIED ITEM OF IMPORTED APPARATUS WOULD BE SUITABLE FOR IT . MOREOVER , A COMPARISON BASED TO SUCH AN EXTENT ON A SPECIFIC EXPERIMENT WOULD MAKE IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE GROUP OF EXPERTS TO ARRIVE AT A DECISION UNLESS THEY HAD PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENT . OWING IN PARTICULAR TO THE NUMBER OF DECISIONS WHICH MUST BE TAKEN AND THE COMPLEXITY OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH , SUCH AN APPROACH IS NOT FEASIBLE .
12 DURING THE ORAL PROCEDURE , THE COMMISSION ALSO STATED THAT THE FINDING OF THE GROUP OF EXPERTS REGARDING THE EQUIVALENCE OF THE APPARATUS MANUFACTURED IN THE COMMUNITY WAS BASED NOT ON QUANTEL ' S STANDARD MODELS BUT ON THE INFORMATION THAT QUANTEL WAS IN A POSITION TO BUILD TO ORDER A SPECIFIC APPARATUS WHICH WOULD MEET ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF ' S INTENDED RESEARCH PROJECT .
13 AT THE REQUEST OF THE COURT , THE COMMISSION PRODUCED A LETTER FROM QUANTEL , DATED 26 OCTOBER 1984 , FROM WHICH IT APPEARS IN PARTICULAR THAT IN NOVEMBER 1979 QUANTEL WAS IN A POSITION TO PRODUCE AND DELIVER WITHIN THREE TO FOUR MONTHS OF RECEIVING THE ORDER , EQUIPMENT WHICH WAS EQUIVALENT TO THE QUANTA RAY COMPANY ' S APPARATUS .
14 WITH REGARD TO THOSE ARGUMENTS , IT MUST BE NOTED FIRST THAT THE QUESTION OF THE POSSIBLE EQUIVALENCE OF COMMUNITY APPARATUS MUST BE DECIDED , AS THE COMMISSION HAS IN FACT ADMITTED , ON THE BASIS OF THE FACTUAL SITUATION PREVAILING WHEN THE IMPORTED APPARATUS WAS ORDERED AND OF THE RELEVANT RULES IN FORCE AT THAT TIME .
15 ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 3 ( 1 ) ( B ) OF REGULATION NO 1798/75 , IMPORTATION FREE OF CUSTOMS DUTIES IS PERMITTED ONLY IF INSTRUMENTS OR APPARATUS OF EQUIVALENT SCIENTIFIC VALUE ARE NOT BEING MANUFACTURED IN THE COMMUNITY .
16 ACCORDING TO THE SECOND INDENT OF ARTICLE 3 ( 3 ) OF THE REGULATION , IN THE VERSION IN FORCE WHEN THE ORDER WAS PLACED , EQUIVALENT SCIENTIFIC VALUE IS TO BE ASSESSED
' BY COMPARING THE CHARACTERISTICS AND SPECIFICATIONS OF THE INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR WHICH APPLICATION IS MADE FOR THE EXEMPTION . . . WITH THOSE OF THE CORRESPONDING INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS MANUFACTURED IN THE COMMUNITY TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE LATTER COULD BE USED FOR THE SAME SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES AS THOSE FOR WHICH THE INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR WHICH THE APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION IS INTENDED AND WHETHER ITS PERFORMANCE WOULD BE COMPARABLE TO THAT EXPECTED OF THE LATTER ' .
17 FINALLY , THE THIRD INDENT OF THAT ARTICLE PROVIDES THAT A SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS IS TO BE
' REGARDED AS BEING MANUFACTURED IN THE COMMUNITY WHERE ITS DELIVERY PERIOD FROM