CELEX: C2001/004/01
Language: en
Date: 2001-01-06 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 19 October 2000 in Case C-15/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Finanzgericht Bremen): Hans Sommer GmbH & Co. KG v Hauptzollamt Bremen (Common Customs Tariff — Customs value — Cost of analysing goods — Post-clearance recovery of import duties Remission of import duties)

6.1.2001                EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                                  C 4/1
                                                                         I
                                                                   (Information)
                                                     COURT OF JUSTICE
                                                               COURT OF JUSTICE
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                       —    Article 13 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1430/79 of
                                                                                  2 July 1979 on the repayment or remission of import or
                          (Fifth Chamber)                                         export duties (OJ 1979 L 175, p. 1), as amended by
                                                                                  Council Regulation (EEC) No 3069/86 of 7 October 1986
                                                                                  (OJ 1986 L 286, p. 1),
                       of 19 October 2000
                                                                             and on the validity of Commission Decision C(95) 2325 final
in Case C-15/99 (reference for a preliminary ruling from                     of 28 September 1995, the Court (Fifth Chamber), composed
the Finanzgericht Bremen): Hans Sommer GmbH & Co.                            of: D.A.O. Edward, President of the Chamber, P. Jann (Rappor-
                KG v Hauptzollamt Bremen (1)                                 teur) and L. Sevón, Judges; J. Mischo, Advocate General;
                                                                             R. Grass, Registrar, has given a judgment on 19 October 2000,
(Common Customs Tariff — Customs value — Cost of                             in which it has ruled:
analysing goods — Post-clearance recovery of import duties
                   Remission of import duties)                               1.   The costs of analyses designed to establish the conformity of
                                                                                  imported goods with the national legislation of the importing
                           (2001/C 4/01)                                          Member State, which the importer invoices to the buyer in
                                                                                  addition to the price of the goods, must be regarded as an
                                                                                  integral part of their ‘transaction value’ within the meaning of
                   (Language of the case: German)                                 Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1224/80 of
                                                                                  28 May 1980 on the valuation of goods for customs purposes,
                                                                                  as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3193/80 of
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published            8 December 1980.
                   in the European Court Reports)
                                                                             2.   The customs authorities of a Member State must refrain from
In Case C-15/99: reference to the Court under Article 177 of                      post clearance recovery of duty pursuant to Article 5(2) of
the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Finanzgericht                         Council Regulation (EEC) No 1697/79 of 24 July 1979 on
Bremen (Finance Court, Bremen), Germany, for a preliminary                        the post-clearance recovery of import duties or export duties
ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between                       which have not been required of the person liable for payment
Hans Sommer GmbH &amp, Co. KG and Hauptzollamt                                    of goods entered for a customs procedure involving the obligation
Bremen — on the interpretation of                                                 to pay such duties, if, at a previous on-the-spot inspection of
                                                                                  importations, they raised no objection to the non-inclusion of
—     Article 3(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1224/80 of                      flat-rate expenses in the customs value of similar transactions
      28 May 1980 on the valuation of goods for customs                           and it does not appear that the trader, who had complied with
      purposes (OJ 1980 L 134, p. 1), as amended by Council                       all of the provisions laid down by the rules in force as far as his
      Regulation (EEC) No 3193/80 of 8 December 1980 (OJ                          customs declaration is concerned, could have been in doubt
      1980 L 333, p. 1),                                                          about the correctness of the results of the inspection.
—     Article 5(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1697/79 of
      24 July 1979 on the post-clearance recovery of import                  (1) OJ C 86 of 27.3.1999.
      duties or export duties which have not been required of
      the person liable for payment on goods entered for a
      customs procedure involving the obligation to pay such
      duties (OJ 1979 L 197, p. 1),