Krings GmbH v Oberfinanzdirektion Nürnberg.
Date: 2004-03-04
23. It should also be stated that the two questions referred to the Court raise a problem of interpretation of subheading 2101 20 92 of the CN. Moreover, by the two questions referred for a preliminary ruling, the Finanzgericht München should be understood to be asking, essentially, whether Regulation No 306/2001 is valid in so far as it classifies under subheading 2101 20 92 of the CN certain goods whose content of extract of tea does not exceed 2.5% and 2.2% of the total weight respectively and whether that classification is applicable by analogy to two mixtures intended for the production of beverages with a basis of tea, both composed of 64% granulated sugar and 1.9% extract of tea and water, to which is added, in one of the mixtures, 0.8% citric acid.
25. It should be pointed out in that connection that a classification regulation, such as, in this case, Regulation No 306/2001, is adopted by the Commission on the advice of the Customs Code Committee where the classification in the CN of a particular product is such as to give rise to difficulty or to be a matter for dispute (see Case C-119/99 Hewlett Packard  [2001] ECR I-3981, paragraph 18).
26. According to the case-law of the Court, the Council has conferred upon the Commission, acting in cooperation with the customs experts of the Member States, a broad discretion to define the subject-matter of tariff headings falling to be considered for the classification of particular goods. However, the Commission’s power to adopt the measures mentioned in Article 9 of Regulation No 2658/87 does not authorise it to alter the subject-matter or the scope of the tariff headings (see, to that effect, Case C-267/94 France  v Commission  [1995] ECR I-4845, paragraphs 19 and 20, and Case C-309/98 Holz Geenen  [2000] ECR I-1975, paragraph 13).
28. It is settled case-law that, in the interests of legal certainty and for ease of verification, the decisive criterion for the classification of goods for customs purposes is in general to be sought in their objective characteristics and properties as defined in the wording of the relevant heading of the CN. The Explanatory Notes drawn up, as regards the CN, by the Commission and, as regards the Harmonised System, by the Customs Cooperation Council may be an important aid to the interpretation of the scope of the various tariff headings but do not have legally binding force (see VOBIS Microcomputer , cited above, paragraph 13; Case C-405/97 Mövenpick Deutschland  [1999] ECR I-2397, paragraph 18, and Holz Geenen , cited above, paragraph 14).
30. In addition, according to the case-law of the Court, the intended use of a product may constitute an objective criterion for classification if it is inherent to the product, and that inherent character must be capable of being assessed on the basis of the product’s objective characteristics and properties (see Case C-459/93 Thyssen Haniel Logistic  [1995] ECR I-1381, paragraph 13, and Holz Geenen , cited above, paragraph 15).
33. As regards the first question, which asks whether the disputed products in the main proceedings must also be classified under subheading 2101 20 92 of the CN, it should be noted that a classification regulation is of general application in so far as it does not apply to an individual trader but, in general, to products which are the same as that examined by the Customs Code Committee. In the interpretation of a classification regulation, in order to determine its scope, account must be taken, inter alia, of the reasons given ( Hewlett Packard , cited above, paragraphs 19 and 20).
34. It is true that Regulation No 306/2001 is not directly applicable to the disputed products in the main proceedings. It does not concern products identical to those covered by the regulation since, inter alia, they have a marginally lower extract of tea content, namely 1.9% of the total weight.
35. Nevertheless, as the Commission rightly submitted, the application by analogy of a classification regulation, such as Regulation No 306/2001, to products similar to those covered by that regulation facilitates a coherent interpretation of the CN and the equal treatment of traders.