Laboratoires Sarget SA v Fonds d'intervention et de régularisation du marché du sucre (FIRS).
Date: 1998-03-12
14 In a case such as that in the main proceedings here, it appears that, of the various chapters, headings and subheadings mentioned in the annex to that regulation, Chapter 30 alone is relevant.
16 It is settled case-law that, in the interests of legal certainty and 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 (see, with regard to the CCT, Case C-459/93 Hauptzollamt Hamburg-St Annen v Thyssen Haniel Logistic [1995] ECR I-1381, paragraph 8, and Joined Cases C-106/94 and C-139/94 Colin and Dupré [1995] ECR I-4759, paragraph 22, and, with regard to the CN, the judgment of 6 November 1997 in Case C-201/96 LTM v FIRS [1997] ECR I-0000, paragraph 17). There are also explanatory notes drawn up, as regards the CN, by the European Commission and, as regards the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, by the Customs Cooperation Council, which may be an important aid to the interpretation of the scope of the various tariff headings but which do not have legally binding force (Case C-35/93 Develop Dr Eisbein v Hauptzollamt Stuttgart-West [1994] ECR I-2655, paragraph 21, and Case C-201/96 LTM, cited above, paragraph 17).
23 The concept of a pharmaceutical product in the CN is distinct from that of a medicinal product referred to in Directive 65/65. The latter directive is designed to eliminate - at least in part - obstacles to trade in proprietary medicinal products within the Community whilst at the same time attaining the essential objective of safeguarding public health (Case 227/82 Van Bennekom [1983] ECR 3883, paragraph 14). Thus, with a view to promoting trade and at the same time protecting public health, the directive allows a relatively large spectrum of products to be covered by the control system laid down in the legislation on medicinal products. It should also be noted that, in Case C-369/88 Delattre [1991] ECR I-1487, paragraphs 27 and 29, the Court held that, with regard to Directive 65/65, the fact that a product is classified as a foodstuff in another Member State cannot prevent its being classified as a medicinal product in the Member State concerned if it displays the characteristics of such a product. The Court also recognised in that case that, so long as harmonisation of the measures necessary to ensure the protection of health is not more complete, differences in the classification of products as between Member States will continue to exist in the context of the directive.
24 In contrast, the eighth recital in the preamble to Regulation No 2658/87 provides that `it is essential that the combined nomenclature and any other nomenclature wholly or partly based on it ... should be applied in a uniform manner by all the Member States'. The provisions of the CN must therefore be given an identical interpretation by each of the Member States.
25 The fact that, pursuant to the provisions of Directive 65/65, marketing authorisations were granted for the products at issue in the main proceedings by the competent French authorities and, consequently, that those products are regarded as medicinal products under French legislation does not therefore necessarily mean that they must be classified as pharmaceutical products in the CN.
26 The same holds true as regards the significance of the presentation of a product for the determination of its classification under the CN. Although, according to the Court's case-law, such a factor is an indication that the products in question are to be treated as medicinal products within the meaning of Directive 65/65 (see, to that effect, the LTM judgment, cited above, paragraph 27), the decisive criterion for the tariff classification of goods according to the CN must, as pointed out in paragraph 16 of this judgment, in general be sought in their objective characteristics and properties as defined in the wording of the CN heading.
28 Moreover, in Case C-177/91 Bioforce v Oberfinanzdirektion München [1993] ECR I-45, paragraph 12, the Court ruled that a pharmaceutical product within the meaning of heading 3004 of the CN has clearly defined therapeutic and, above all, prophylactic characteristics, the effect of which is concentrated on precise functions of the human organism.
39 Nor has it been established that Sargenor and Dynamisan had clearly defined therapeutic or prophylactic characteristics with an effect concentrated on precise functions of the human organism or that they are capable of being applied in the prevention or treatment of specific diseases or ailments.
48 It has not been established that either Lysivit or Sarvit had clearly defined therapeutic or prophylactic characteristics with an effect concentrated on precise functions of the human organism or that they were capable of being applied in the prevention or treatment of specific diseases or ailments.