OF THE TREATY OBLIGATIONS OF THE COMMUNITY OVER ACTS OF ITS ORGANS AND - INDEPENDENTLY OF THE QUESTION WHETHER A GATT PROVISION IS OR IS NOT SUITED TO CREATE RIGHTS IN RELATION TO THE CITIZEN UPON WHICH HE CAN RELY BEFORE A COURT - IS NOT A NETHERLANDS COURT BOUND IN CASES WHICH ARE SUBMITTED TO IT TO APPLY GATT PROVISIONS WHICH ARE SUITABLE FOR DIRECT APPLICATION EVEN THOUGH IT MAY THEREBY COME INTO CONFLICT WITH COMMUNITY LAW?
14 WITH EFFECT FROM 1 JULY 1968 AND, MOREOVER, IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE XXIV OF GATT, THE CCT REPLACED THE NATIONAL CUSTOMS TARIFFS OF THE MEMBER STATES AND, SUBJECT TO REVIEW BY THE COURTS RESPONSIBLE FOR APPLYING AND INTERPRETING COMMUNITY LAW, IN PARTICULAR ON QUESTIONS RAISED UNDER ARTICLE 177 OF THE TREATY, THE COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES ALONE HAVE JURISDICTION TO INTERPRET AND DETERMINE THE LEGAL EFFECT OF THE HEADINGS WHICH IT COMPRISES .
15 WHATEVER MAY HAVE BEEN THE MANDATORY FORCE UNDER A NATIONAL LEGAL SYSTEM OF AN INTERPRETATION PLACED UP ON 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, AND EVEN IF THE WORDING OF THE HEADING IN THE CCT HAS REMAINED THE SAME, THAT INTERPRETATION CANNOT AS SUCH HOLD GOOD UNDER THE COMMUNITY LEGAL SYSTEM, WHICH IS APPLICABLE THROUGHOUT THE MEMBER STATES .
16 SIMILARLY, 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 .
17 FURTHERMORE, THE ADDITIONAL NOTE IN DISPUTE IS WHOLLY CONSISTENT WITH A CLASSIFICATION OPINION EXPRESSED IN 1962 AND MAINTAINED UNTIL 1 JANUARY 1972 BY THE CUSTOMS CO-OPERATION COUNCIL AND, AGAIN, WITH THE MOST COMMON PRACTICE IN THE STATES WHICH ARE SIGNATORIES OF GATT AND, MORE PARTICULARLY, IN ALL THE MEMBER STATES OF THE COMMUNITY EXCEPT THE NETHERLANDS .
18 THE TARIFF CONCESSIONS AND BINDINGS ACHIEVED UNDER GATT WERE NEGOTIATED BEFORE 1 JULY 1968 BY THE COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 111 OF THE TREATY AND RELATED TO THE CCT WHICH ENTERED INTO FORCE ON 1 JULY 1968 .
19 ACCORDINGLY, THESE CONCESSIONS AND BINDINGS COVERED HEADINGS 84.54 AND 90.07, AS INTERPRETED AND APPLIED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE OPINION OF THE CUSTOMS COOPERATION COUNCIL, WHICH MEANS THAT, IN MAINTAINING THESE INTERPRETATIONS AND APPLICATIONS AFTER 1 JULY 1968, THE COMMUNITY AUTHORITIES HAVE NOT, IN ANY SENSE, UNILATERALLY INCREASED A DUTY BOUND UNDER GATT .
THIRD QUESTION
20 THE THIRD QUESTION ASKS WHETHER THE ADDITIONAL NOTE INFRINGES THE OBLIGATIONS ARISING FROM THE CONVENTION OF 15 DECEMBER 1950 ON NOMENCLATURE FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS IN CUSTOMS TARIFFS, IN PARTICULAR ARTICLE II ( B ) ( II ), CONTAINING A PROVISION PROHIBITING THE AMENDMENT OF THE NOTES TO THE