CELEX: C2007/211/15
Language: en
Date: 2007-09-08 00:00:00
Title: Case C-402/06: Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 18 July 2007 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden, Netherlands) — Op- en Overslagbedrijf Van der Vaart B.V. v Staatssecretaris van Financiën (Common Customs Tariff — Tariff classification — Combined Nomenclature — Product obtained from curdled milk and the extraction of a significant quantity of serum)

8.9.2007   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 211/9
            
         Judgment of the Court (Seventh Chamber) of 18 July 2007 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden, Netherlands) — Op- en Overslagbedrijf Van der Vaart B.V. v Staatssecretaris van Financiën
   (Case C-402/06) (1)
   
   (Common Customs Tariff - Tariff classification - Combined Nomenclature - Product obtained from curdled milk and the extraction of a significant quantity of serum)
   (2007/C 211/15)
   Language of the case: Dutch
   Referring court
   Hoge Raad der Nederlanden
   Parties to the main proceedings
   
      Appellant: Op — en Overslagbedrijf Van der Vaart
   
      Respondent: Staatssecretaris van Financiën
   Re:
   Reference for a preliminary ruling — Hoge Raad der Nederlanden — Interpretation of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1734/96 of 9 September 1996 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ 1996 L 238, p. 1) — Product obtained from curdled milk and extraction of most of the serum containing not more than 2 % of whey-albumin that has been broken down by the activity of an enzyme added during a drying process lasting 24 to 36 hours
   Operative part of the judgment
   
               1.
            
            
               Heading 0406 of the Combined Nomenclature, set out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1734/96 of 9 September 1996, must be construed in such a way that it can accommodate the classification of a product, such as that in issue in the main proceedings, obtained from curdled milk from which a great deal of the serum has been extracted and the albumin content of which has been reduced, by the effect of an enzyme, to 2 % of the total quantity of the albumins during a drying process lasting 24 to 36 hours and consisting of casein and more than 50 % humidity.
            
         
               2.
            
            
               Subheading 0406 20 90 of the Combined Nomenclature must be construed in such a way that it can accommodate a product, such as that in issue in the main proceedings, which contains more than 50 % humidity and less than 1 % fat and is ground into regular granules of 2 to 4 mm in size and is intended for use in the manufacture of pizza toppings and in the preparation of cheese sauces.
            
         
      (1)  OJ C 310, 16.12.2006.