Judgment of the Court of 19 November 1975. - Douaneagent der NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen v Inspecteur der invoerrechten en accijnzen. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Tariefcommissie - Netherlands. - Xerographic duplicators. - Case 38-75.
European Court reports 1975 Page 01439
Greek special edition Page 00435
Portuguese special edition Page 00479
Spanish special edition Page 00391
Summary
Parties
Subject of the case
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part
Keywords
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1 . COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF - ADDITIONAL NOTE - MANDATORY FORCE
2 . COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF - REPLACEMENT OF NATIONAL CUSTOMS TARIFFS - INTERPRETATION - EXCLUSIVE COMPETENCE OF COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES
3 . GATT - COMMITMENTS - MANDATORY FORCE FOR THE COMMUNITY - DETERMINATION BY REFERENCE TO COMMUNITY PROVISIONS
4 . COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF - BRUSSELS CONVENTIONS ON NOMENCLATURE AND SETTING UP OF A CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL - COMMITMENTS - MANDATORY FORCE FOR THE COMMUNITY
5 . COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF - CUSTOM COOPERATION COUNCIL - CLASSIFICATION OPINION - EFFECT - INTERPRETATION
Summary
1 . AN ADDITIONAL NOTE TO THE CUSTOMS TARIFF, DECIDED UPON BY THE COUNCIL, BECOMES PART OF THE HEADING TO WHICH IT REFERS AND HAS THE SAME BINDING EFFECT BOTH WHETHER IT CONSTITUTES AN AUTHENTIC INTERPRETATION OF THE HEADING OR SUPPLEMENTS IT .
2 . WITH EFFECT FROM 1 JULY 1968 THE COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF REPLACED THE NATIONAL CUSTOMS TARIFFS OF THE MEMBER STATES .
SUBJECT TO REVIEW BY THE COURTS RESPONSIBLE FOR APPLYING AND INTERPRETING COMMUNITY LAW, THE COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES ALONE HAVE JURISDICTION TO INTERPRET AND DETERMINE THE LEGAL EFFECT OF THE HEADINGS WHICH IT COMPRISES .
CONSEQUENTLY AN INTERPRETATION PLACED UPON A HEADING OF A NATIONAL CUSTOMS TARIFF, OR OF ONE WHICH WAS COMMON ONLY TO SOME MEMBER STATES, BY THE COMPETENT AUTHORITY OF A MEMBER STATE BEFORE 1 JULY 1968 CAN NO LONGER HOLD GOOD UNDER THE COMMUNITY LEGAL SYSTEM, EVEN IF THE WORDING OF THE HEADING IN THE CCT HAS REMAINED THE SAME .
3 . SINCE, SO FAR AS FULFILMENT OF THE COMMITMENTS PROVIDED FOR BY GATT IS CONCERNED, THE COMMUNITY HAS REPLACED THE MEMBER STATES, THE MANDATORY EFFECT, IN LAW, OF THESE COMMITMENTS MUST BE DETERMINED BY REFERENCE TO THE RELEVANT PROVISIONS IN THE COMMUNITY LEGAL SYSTEM AND NOT TO THOSE WHICH GAVE THEM THEIR PREVIOUS FORCE UNDER THE NATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEMS .
4 . THE COMMUNITY HAS REPLACED THE MEMBER STATES IN COMMITMENTS ARISING FROM THE CONVENTION OF 15 DECEMBER 1950 ON NOMENCLATURE FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS IN CUSTOMS TARIFFS AND FROM THE CONVENTION OF THE SAME DATE ESTABLISHING A CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL .
5 . THE CLASSIFICATION OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THE CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL DO NOT BIND THE CONTRACTING PARTIES BUT THEY HAVE A BEARING ON INTERPRETATION WHICH IS ALL THE MORE DECISIVE THEY EMANATE FROM AN AUTHORITY ENTRUSTED BY THE CONTRACTING PARTIES WITH ENSURING UNIFORMITY IN THE INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF THE NOMENCLATURE .
WHEN SUCH AN INTERPRETATION REFLECTS THE GENERAL PRACTICE FOLLOWED BY THE CONTRACTING STATES, IT CAN BE SET ASIDE ONLY IF IT APPEARS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE