'ALL CHARGES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT '. BY ARTICLE 12 IT IS PROHIBITED TO INTRODUCE ANY 'NEW CUSTOMS DUTIES ON IMPORTS....OR CHARGES HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT' AND TO INCREASE THOSE ALREADY IN FORCE .
THE POSITION OF THESE ARTICLES TOWARDS THE BEGINNING OF THAT PART OF THE TREATY DEALING WITH THE 'FOUNDATIONS OF THE COMMUNITY' - ARTICLE 9 BEING PLACED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TITLE RELATING TO 'FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS', AND ARTICLE 12 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SECTION DEALING WITH THE 'ELIMINATION OF CUSTOMS DUTIES' - IS SUFFICIENT TO EMPHASIZE THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE PROHIBITIONS WHICH THEY IMPOSE .
THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE PROHIBITIONS IS SUCH THAT, IN ORDER TO PREVENT THEIR EVASION BY DIFFERENT CUSTOMS OR FISCAL PRACTICES, THE TREATY SOUGHT TO FORESTALL ANY POSSIBLE BREAKDOWN IN THEIR APPLICATION .
THUS IT IS SPECIFIED ( ARTICLE 17 ) THAT THE PROHIBITIONS CONTAINED IN ARTICLE 9 SHALL BE APPLIED EVEN IF THE CUSTOMS DUTIES ARE FISCAL IN NATURE .
ARTICLE 95, WHICH IS TO BE FOUND BOTH IN THAT PART OF THE TREATY DEALING WITH THE 'POLICY OF THE COMMUNITY' AND IN THE CHAPTER RELATING TO 'TAX PROVISIONS', SEEKS TO FILL IN ANY LOOP-HOLE WHICH CERTAIN TAXATION PROCEDURES MIGHT FIND IN THE PRESCRIBED PROHIBITIONS .
THIS CONCERN IS TAKEN SO FAR AS TO FORBID A STATE EITHER TO IMPOSE IN ANY MANNER HIGHER TAXATION ON THE PRODUCTS OF OTHER MEMBER STATES THAN ON ITS OWN OR TO IMPOSE ON THE PRODUCTS OF THOSE STATES ANY INTERNAL TAXATION OF SUCH A NATURE AS TO AFFORD INDIRECT 'PROTECTION' TO ITS DOMESTIC PRODUCTS .
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IT FOLLOWS, THEN, FROM THE CLARITY, CERTAINTY AND UNRESTRICTED SCOPE OF ARTICLES 9 AND 12, FROM THE GENERAL SCHEME OF THEIR PROVISIONS AND OF THE TREATY AS A WHOLE, THAT THE PROHIBITION OF NEW CUSTOMS DUTIES, LINKED WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF THE FREE MOVEMENT OF PRODUCTS, CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL RULE AND THAT IN CONSEQUENCE ANY EXCEPTION, WHICH MOREOVER IS TO BE NARROWLY INTERPRETED, MUST BE CLEARLY STIPULATED .
THE CONCEPT OF 'A CHARGE HAVING EQUIVALENT EFFECT' TO A CUSTOMS DUTY, FAR FROM BEING AN EXCEPTION TO THE GENERAL RULE PROHIBITING CUSTOMS DUTIES, IS ON THE CONTRARY NECESSARILY COMPLEMENTARY TO IT AND ENABLES THAT PROHIBITION TO BE MADE EFFECTIVE .
THIS EXPRESSION, INVARIABLY LINKED TO THAT OF 'CUSTOMS DUTIES' IS EVIDENCE OF A GENERAL INTENTION TO PROHIBIT NOT ONLY MEASURES WHICH OBVIOUSLY TAKE THE FORM OF THE CLASSIC CUSTOMS DUTY BUT ALSO ALL THOSE WHICH, PRESENTED UNDER OTHER NAMES OR INTRODUCED BY THE INDIRECT MEANS OF OTHER PROCEDURES, WOULD LEAD TO THE SAME DISCRIMINATORY OR PROTECTIVE RESULTS AS CUSTOMS DUTIES .
IN ORDER TO SEE WHETHER A CHARGE HAS AN EQUIVALENT EFFECT TO A CUSTOMS DUTY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THIS EFFECT IN CONNEXION WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TREATY, NOTABLY IN THAT PART, TITLE AND CHAPTER CONTAINING ARTICLES 9 AND 12, THAT IS IN RELATION TO THE FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS, AND STILL MORE GENERALLY THE OBJECTIVES OF ARTICLE 3 WHICH ARE AIMED