NOVEMBER 1979 , AN APPARATUS AND ITS ACCESSORIES DESCRIBED AS A ' SIGNAL ANALYZER HP 5420 A WITH INTERFACE HP 10920 A ' AND MANUFACTURED BY THE HEWLETT PACKARD COMPANY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , ON THE GROUND THAT IT WAS NOT A SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 3 ( 1 ) OF REGULATION ( EEC ) NO 1798/75 OF THE COUNCIL OF 10 JULY 1975 ON THE IMPORTATION FREE OF COMMON CUSTOMS TARIFF DUTIES OF EDUCATIONAL , SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL MATERIALS ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL 1975 , L 184 , P . 1 ).
3 IT APPEARS FROM THE FILE THAT THE INSTITUTE APPLIED FOR THE DUTY-FREE ADMISSION OF THE APPARATUS FOR USE IN RESEARCH INTO ' SURGE NOISE , INDUSTRIAL NOISE , THE STRUCTURE OF TURBULENCE AND NOISE PRODUCTION ' . IT SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH THE SCIENTIFIC NATURE OF THE APPARATUS ON THE FOLLOWING GROUNDS :
' THE PRECISION AND THE POSSIBILITY OF THE INTERNAL CONVERSION OF DATA PERMITS THE OPTIMAL ANALYSIS OF THE DATA OBTAINED IN THE RESEARCH PROJECTS DESCRIBED . . . . THE FACT THAT IT IS EASY TO CONNECT THE ANALYSER UP TO THE HEWLETT PACKARD COMPUTER WHICH THE INSTITUTE POSSESSES MEANS THAT IT IS EASY TO USE THE PERIPHERALS OF THAT COMPUTER FOR THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ANALYSER . '
4 BEFORE THE FINANZGERICHT THE INSTITUTE CLAIMED , INTER ALIA , THAT THE APPARATUS WAS CLEARLY OF A SCIENTIFIC NATURE , EVEN WITHOUT THE INTERFACE IMPORTED AT THE SAME TIME , BECAUSE IT MADE IT POSSIBLE TO EXAMINE WITH CONSIDERABLE PRECISION THE COHERENCE AND PHASE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO SIGNALS MEASURED IN TURBULENT CURRENTS . THE APPARATUS COULD THEREFORE BE USED FOR RESEARCH INTO THE ORIGIN AND STRUCTURES OF TURBULENCE AND INTO THE CAUSES OF NOISE .
5 THE HAUPTZOLLAMT STUTTGART-WEST RELIED ON THE ABOVE-MENTIONED COMMISSION DECISION 82/932 CONCERNING THE EARLIER IMPORTATION OF AN IDENTICAL APPARATUS . IT CONSIDERED THAT SINCE THE ADDITION OF AN INTERFACE ENABLING THE APPARATUS TO BE CONNECTED UP TO A COMPUTER OF THE SAME MAKE WAS OF NO MATERIAL SIGNIFICANCE , THE CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES WERE BOUND BY THAT DECISION IN THIS CASE AS WELL .
6 ACCORDING TO THE PREAMBLE TO DECISION 82/932 THE EXAMINATION CARRIED OUT BY THE GROUP OF EXPERTS COMPOSED OF REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL THE MEMBER STATES MEETING WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON DUTY-FREE ARRANGEMENTS SHOWED THAT :
' THE APPARATUS IN QUESTION IS A SIGNAL ANALYSER ; ... IT DOES NOT HAVE THE REQUISITE OBJECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS MAKING IT SPECIFICALLY SUITED TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ; ... MOREOVER , APPARATUS OF THE SAME KIND ARE PRINCIPALLY USED FOR NON-SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES ; ... ITS USE IN THE CASE IN QUESTION COULD NOT ALONE CONFER UPON IT THE CHARACTER OF A SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS ; ... IT THEREFORE CANNOT BE REGARDED AS A SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS ; ... THE DUTY-FREE ADMISSION OF THE APPARATUS IN QUESTION IS THEREFORE NOT JUSTIFIED ' .
7 THE OPERATIVE PART OF THE DECISION IS WORDED AS FOLLOWS :
' ARTICLE