Case C‑233/15

SIA ‘Oniors Bio’

v

Valsts ieņēmumu dienests

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Administratīvā apgabaltiesa)

‛Reference for a preliminary ruling — Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff classification — Combined Nomenclature — Subheadings 1517 90 91 and 1518 00 31 — Mixture of fluid vegetable oil, unprocessed, non-volatile, composed of rapeseed oil (88%) and sunflower oil (12%)’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber), 28 April 2016

1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits — Classification of goods under tariff headings in the Common Customs Tariff

   (Art. 267 TFEU)

2. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Jurisdiction of the Court — Identification of the relevant aspects of EU law — Reformulation of the questions

   (Art. 267 TFEU)

3. Customs union — Common Customs Tariff — Tariff headings — Mixture of fluid vegetable oil, unprocessed, non-volatile, composed of rapeseed oil and sunflower oil — Classification under subheadings 1517 90 91 or 1518 00 31 of the Combined Nomenclature according to the edible or inedible nature of the product — Criteria

   (Council Regulations No 2658/87, as amended by Regulation No 1006/2011, Annex I, sub-headings 1517 90 91 and 1518 00 31, and No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 648/2005, Arts 62, 68 and 71)

1.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 28)

2.  See the text of the decision.

   (see para. 30)

3.  The Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Regulation No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, in the version resulting from Regulation No 1006/2011, must be interpreted as meaning that, in order to determine whether a mixture of crude fixed fluid vegetable oils, composed of rapeseed oil (88%) and sunflower oil (12%), must be classified as an edible mixture of vegetable oils under CN subheading 1517 90 91 or as an inedible mixture of vegetable oils under CN subheading 1518 00 31, all the factors relevant to the case must be taken into account, in so far as they relate to the objective characteristics and properties inherent in that product.

   Among the relevant factors which may justify the classification of such a mixture as ‘inedible’, account should be taken of the information provided by the producer of that mixture in the context of the customs declaration, according to which, because of the characteristics of the process for its production, the presence of noxious substances in that mixture cannot be excluded. In that regard, the fact that an analysis of samples taken from such a mixture of vegetable oils has not shown that it contains any noxious substance does not suffice, by itself, to call into question the classification of the mixture in question as ‘inedible’. Such a consequence presupposes the existence of other relevant evidence capable of calling into question the accuracy of the information relating to the process for the production of the mixture in question, provided by its producer and included in that declaration, in accordance with Articles 62, 68 and 71 of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation No 648/2005.

   (see para. 57, operative part)