EURO 2004. Hungary Kft. v Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal Nyugat-dunántúli Regionális Vám- és Pénzügyőri Főigazgatósága.
Date: 2016-06-16
23


It should first be pointed out that, according to settled case-law, the objective of the EU legislation on customs valuation is to introduce a fair, uniform and neutral system excluding the use of arbitrary or fictitious customs values (judgment of 15 July 2010 in Gaston Schul, C‑354/09, EU:C:2010:439, paragraph 27 and the case-law cited).
24


In particular, as is apparent from paragraph 38 of the judgment of 12 December 2013 in Christodoulou and Others (C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825), by virtue of Article 29 of the Customs Code, the customs value of imported goods is the transaction value, that is to say, the price actually paid or payable for the goods when they are sold for export to the customs territory of the European Union, adjusted, where necessary, in accordance with Articles 32 and 33 of that code.
25


In that regard the Court has held that, if as a general rule the price actually paid or payable for the goods forms the basis for calculating the customs value, that price is a factor that potentially must be adjusted where necessary in order to avoid the setting of an arbitrary or fictitious customs value (see, to that effect, judgment of 12 December 2013 in Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).
26


The transaction value must reflect the real economic value of imported goods and take into account all the elements of those goods that have economic value (judgment of 12 December 2013 in Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 40 and the case-law cited).
27


However, where the customs value cannot be determined by the transaction value of the imported goods in accordance with Article 29 of the Customs Code, the customs valuation is to be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 30 of that code by applying sequentially the methods laid down in subparagraphs (a) to (d) of paragraph 2 of that article (judgment of 12 December 2013 in Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 41).
28


If it is no longer possible to determine the customs value of the imported goods on the basis of Article 30 of the Customs Code, the customs valuation is to be carried out in accordance with the provisions under Article 31 (judgment of 12 December 2013 in Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 42).
29


Consequently, it is clear, both from the wording of Articles 29 to 31 of the Customs Code and from the order in which the criteria for determining the customs value must be applied pursuant to those articles, that those provisions are subordinately linked to each other. Thus, when the customs value cannot be determined by applying a given provision, only then is it appropriate to refer to the provision which comes immediately after it in the established order (judgment of 12 December 2013 in Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 43).
30


Since, for the purposes of the customs valuation, priority is to be given to the transaction value in accordance with Article 29 of the Customs Code, that method of determining the customs value is assumed to be the most appropriate and the most frequently used (judgment of 12 December 2013 in Christodoulou and Others, C‑116/12, EU:C:2013:825, paragraph 44).
31


As regards, first, what powers the customs authorities have where a declaration submitted to them gives rise to doubts, Article 181a of the Implementing Regulation provides that the customs authorities need not necessarily determine the customs valuation of imported goods on the basis of the transaction value method if they are not satisfied, on the basis of reasonable doubts, that the declared value represents the total amount paid or payable. They may, therefore, refuse to accept the declared price if those doubts continue after they have asked for additional information or documents and have provided the person concerned with a reasonable opportunity to respond to the grounds for those doubts (see, to that effect, judgment of 28 February 2008 in Carboni e derivati, C‑263/06, EU:C:2008:128, paragraph 52).
32


Secondly, the Court has previously held that in respect of the value which must be substituted for the transaction value, Article 181a of the implementing regulation merely states that the customs authorities ‘need not determine the customs valuation … on the basis of the transaction value method’ but does not specify what other value is to be substituted for the transaction value in such a case (judgment of 28 February 2008 in Carboni e derivati, C263/06, EU:C:2008:128, paragraph 55).
33


Pursuant to Articles 30 and 31 of the Customs Code, where the customs value of the imported goods cannot be determined under Article 29 of the Code, it is to be determined by application, first, of Article 30 and, second, of Article 31 (see, to that effect, judgment of 28 February 2008 in Carboni e derivati, C‑263/06, EU:C:2008:128, paragraph 56).
34


Moreover, as regards in particular the application of the abovementioned Article 30, it follows from point 1 of the notes to Article 30(2)(a) and (b) of the Customs Code, set out in Annex 23 to the Implementing Regulation, that the customs authorities are, where possible, to use a sale of identical or similar goods, as appropriate, at the same commercial level and in substantially the same quantity as the goods being valued.
36


However, it is for the referring court, which alone has direct knowledge of the dispute before it, to determine whether the doubts of the customs authority before the court in the main proceedings were valid in order to have recourse to the abovementioned secondary methods and whether that authority gave the person concerned a reasonable opportunity to make his views known in respect of the grounds on which those doubts were based.
41


It should be observed that, for the purposes of the application of Article 181a of the Implementing Regulation, the authenticity of the documents showing the transaction value of the imported goods is not the determining factor but is one of the factors which the customs authorities must take into account. Those authorities may have doubts, despite the authenticity of those documents, as to the accuracy of the customs value of the imported goods (see, to that effect, judgment of 28 February 2008 in Carboni e derivati, C‑263/06, EU:C:2008:128, paragraph 64).