Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Common Customs Tariff — Classification of goods — Binding tariff information — Scope — Possibility of reliance by a third party in a dispute pending before a court of another Member State — Excluded

(Council Regulation No 2913/92, Art. 12)

2. Preliminary rulings — Reference to the Court — Obligation to refer — National court before which proceedings relating to the tariff classification of goods are brought taking the view that a binding tariff information issued to a third party and submitted before it is wrong— No obligation to refer — Conditions

(Art. 234 CE)

3. Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Vehicles designed for moving semi-trailers on industrial premises and in industrial buildings — Classification in heading 8709 of the combined nomenclature relating to works trucks used for the transport of goods and tractors of the type used in railway stations — Excluded

Summary

1. It follows from Article 12 of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code that a binding tariff information creates rights only for the holder and in respect only of the goods described therein. In a dispute pending before a court of a Member State, the parties do not therefore have any personal right to rely on a binding tariff information relating to similar goods issued to a third party by the authorities of another Member State.

(see para. 27)

2. Article 234 EC must be interpreted as meaning that when, in proceedings relating to the tariff classification of specific goods before a national court or tribunal, a binding tariff information relating to similar goods issued to a person not party to the dispute by the customs authorities of another Member State is submitted, and that court or tribunal takes the view that the tariff classification made in that information is wrong, those two circumstances cannot result, in respect of a court or tribunal against whose decisions there is a judicial remedy under national law, in the court or tribunal being under an obligation to refer to the Court questions on interpretation.

In respect of a court or tribunal against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law, those circumstances cannot, in themselves, automatically result in the court or tribunal being under an obligation to refer to the Court questions on interpretation. Such a court or tribunal is, however, required, where a question of Community law is raised before it, to comply with its obligation to make a reference, unless it has established that the question raised is irrelevant or that the Community provision in question has already been interpreted by the Court or that the correct application of Community law is so obvious as to leave no scope for any reasonable doubt. The existence of such a possibility must be assessed in the light of the specific characteristics of Community law, the particular difficulties to which its interpretation gives rise and the risk of divergences in judicial decisions within the Community. The existence of a binding tariff information issued by the authorities of another Member State must cause that court or tribunal to take particular care in its assessment of whether there is no reasonable doubt as to the correct application of the combined nomenclature, taking account, in particular, of the three criteria mentioned above.

(see para. 45, operative part 1)

3. Heading 8709 of the combined nomenclature in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by Regulation No 2261/98, must be interpreted as not covering a vehicle equipped with a diesel engine having an output of 132 kilowatts at 2 500 revolutions per minute and automatic transmission with four forward gears and one reverse gear, fitted with a closed cab and a fifth wheel allowing a lift height of 60 centimetres, which has a maximum carrying capacity of 32 000 kilograms, a very small turning circle and is designed for moving semi-trailers on industrial premises and in industrial buildings. Such a vehicle is neither a works truck used for the transport of goods nor a tractor of the type used in railway stations, within the meaning of that heading.

(see para. 64, operative part 2)