STATES, IS SUFFICIENT TO SHOW THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF THE PROHIBITIONS LAID DOWN THEREIN .
THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE PROHIBITIONS IS SUCH THAT IN ORDER TO PREVENT THEIR CIRCUMVENTION BY MEANS OF VARIOUS CUSTOMS AND FISCAL MEASURES, THE TREATY WAS INTENDED TO PREVENT ANY POSSIBLE FAILURE IN THEIR IMPLEMENTATION .
5 ARTICLE 17 THEREFORE SPECIFIES THAT THE PROHIBITIONS IN ARTICLE 9 SHALL ALSO APPLY TO CUSTOMS DUTIES OF A FISCAL NATURE .
ARTICLE 95, WHICH APPEARS BOTH IN THAT PART OF THE TREATY WHICH DEALS WITH THE " POLICY OF THE COMMUNITY " AND IN THE CHAPTER ON TAX PROVISIONS, IS INTENDED TO FILL IN ANY BREACHES WHICH A FISCAL MEASURE MIGHT OPEN IN THE PROHIBITIONS LAID DOWN, BY PROHIBITING THE IMPOSITION ON IMPORTED PRODUCTS OF INTERNAL TAXATION IN EXCESS OF THAT IMPOSED ON DOMESTIC PRODUCTS .
6 IN PROHIBITING THE IMPOSITION OF CUSTOMS DUTIES, THE TREATY DOES NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN GOODS ACCORDING TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY ENTER INTO COMPETITION WITH THE PRODUCTS OF THE IMPORTING COUNTRY .
THUS, THE PURPOSE OF THE ABOLITION OF CUSTOMS BARRIERS IS NOT MERELY TO ELIMINATE THEIR PROTECTIVE NATURE, AS THE TREATY SOUGHT ON THE CONTRARY TO GIVE GENERAL SCOPE AND EFFECT TO THE RULE ON THE ELIMINATION OF CUSTOMS DUTIES AND CHARGES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT, IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS .
7 IT FOLLOWS FROM THE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE AND FROM THE GENERAL AND ABSOLUTE NATURE OF THE PROHIBITION OF ANY CUSTOMS DUTY APPLICABLE TO GOODS MOVING BETWEEN MEMBER STATES THAT CUSTOMS DUTIES ARE PROHIBITED INDEPENDENTLY OF ANY CONSIDERATION OF THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH THEY WERE INTRODUCED AND THE DESTINATION OF THE REVENUE OBTAINED THEREFROM .
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS PROHIBITION IS BASED ON THE FACT THAT ANY PECUNIARY CHARGE, HOWEVER SMALL, IMPOSED ON GOODS BY REASON OF THE FACT THAT THEY CROSS A FRONTIER CONSTITUTES AN OBSTACLE TO THE MOVEMENT OF SUCH GOODS .
8 THE EXTENSION OF THE PROHIBITION OF CUSTOMS DUTIES TO CHARGES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT IS INTENDED TO SUPPLEMENT THE PROHIBITION AGAINST OBSTACLES TO TRADE CREATED BY SUCH DUTIES BY INCREASING ITS EFFICIENCY .
THE USE OF THESE TWO COMPLEMENTARY CONCEPTS THUS TENDS, IN TRADE BETWEEN MEMBER STATES, TO AVOID THE IMPOSITION OF ANY PECUNIARY CHARGE ON GOODS CIRCULATING WITHIN THE COMMUNITY BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THAT THEY CROSS A NATIONAL FRONTIER .
9 THUS, IN ORDER TO ASCRIBE TO A CHARGE AN EFFECT EQUIVALENT TO A CUSTOMS DUTY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THIS EFFECT IN THE LIGHT OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TREATY, IN THE PARTS, TITLES AND CHAPTERS IN WHICH ARTICLES 9, 12, 13 AND 16 ARE TO BE FOUND, PARTICULARLY IN RELATION TO THE FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS .
CONSEQUENTLY, ANY PECUNIARY CHARGE, HOWEVER SMALL AND WHATEVER ITS DESIGNATION AND MODE OF APPLICATION, WHICH IS IMPOSED UNILATERALLY ON DOMESTIC OR FOREIGN GOODS BY REASON OF THE FACT THAT THEY CROSS A FRONTIER, AND WHICH IS NOT A CUSTOMS DUTY IN THE STRICT SENSE, CONSTITUTES A CHARGE HAVING EQUIVALENT