Anagram International Inc. v Inspecteur van de Belastingdienst - Douanedistrict Rotterdam.
Date: 2006-07-13
18. According to settled case-law, the Council of the European Union 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 referred to in Article 9 of Regulation No 2658/87 does not authorise it to alter the subject-matter and the scope of the tariff headings (see, to that effect, Krings , paragraph 26, and the case‑law cited).
20. It is also 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 by the Commission as regards the CN and by the World Customs Organisation as regards the HS may be an important aid to the interpretation of the scope of the various tariff headings but do not have legally binding force (see Case C‑467/03 Ikegami  [2005] ECR I‑2389, paragraph 17).
21. The intended use of a product may constitute an objective classification criterion if it is inherent in the product; the inherent character must be capable of being assessed on the basis of the product’s objective characteristics and properties (see Ikegami , paragraph 23, and the case‑law cited).
26. Furthermore, it is irrelevant that those balloons can also be used as festive articles. If the objective characteristic of a product can be established at the time of customs clearance, the fact that it may also be possible to envisage another use for that product will not preclude its classification for legal purposes. For its classification for customs purposes, that product does not have to be solely or exclusively intended for use corresponding to that objective characteristic. It suffices if that is the main use for which it is intended (see, to that effect, Case C‑395/93 Neckermann Versand  [1994] ECR I‑4027, paragraphs 8 and 9).
29. As regards the first question, which asks whether the product at issue in the main proceedings must also be classified under subheading 9503 90 32 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 which has given its opinion for the purposes of that regulation. In the interpretation of a classification regulation, in order to determine its scope, account must be taken, inter alia, of its statement of reasons ( Krings , paragraph 33, and the case‑law cited).
31. In that regard, it should be stated that the product at issue in the main proceedings is admittedly not identical to the product described in point 3 of the table set out in the Annex to Regulation No 442/2000, in that it does not correspond, in every respect, to the description of the goods contained in that point. Consequently, as the Netherlands Government correctly points out in its written observations, that regulation is not directly applicable to that product.
32. Nevertheless, as the Court has already held, the application by analogy of a classification regulation, such as Regulation No 442/2000, to products similar to those covered by that regulation facilitates a coherent interpretation of the CN and the equal treatment of traders (see Krings , paragraph 35).
33. The only difference between the product at issue and the product referred to by the description contained in point 3 of the table set out in the Annex to Regulation No 442/2000 consists in a mere inversion of the materials from which the product is made and, as the Commission also notes, its principal characteristics are not affected. It follows that that regulation is applicable to Anagram’s product by analogy.