C-382/95

TECHEX v HAUPTZOLLAMT MÜNCHEN

J U D G M E N T O F T H E C O U R T (First Chamber) 18 December 1997 *

In Case C-382/95,

R E F E R E N C E to the Court under Article 177 of the E C Treaty by the Bundes- finanzhof for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

Techex Computer + Grafik Vertriebs GmbH

and

composed of: M. Wathelet, President of the Chamber, D. A. O. Edward (Rappor- teur) and L. Sevón, Judges,

Advocate General: C. O. Lenz, Registrar: H . A. Rühi, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

— Techex Computer + Grafik Vertriebs G m b H , by Wilhelm Jordan, Rechtsan- walt, Munich,

— the Commission of the European Communities, by Francisco de Sousa Fialho, of its Legal Service, acting as Agent, assisted by Hans-Jürgen Rabe and Georg M. Berrisch, of the Brussels and Hamburg Bars,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

1 By order of 7 November 1995, received at the Court on 7 December 1995, the Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Finance Court) referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EC Treaty three questions on the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature of the C o m m o n Customs Tariff (hereinafter 'the Combined Nomenclature') in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) N o 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Cus- toms Tariff (OJ 1987 L 256, p. 1), as amended by the annexes to Commission Regulation (EEC) N o 3174/88 of 21 September 1988 (OJ 1988 L 298, p. 1), C o m - mission Regulation (EEC) N o 2886/89 of 2 August 1989 (OJ 1989 L 282, p. 1), and Commission Regulation (EEC) N o 2472/90 of 31 July 1990 (OJ 1990 L 247, p . 1).

2 Those questions have been raised in proceedings between Techex Computer + Grafik Vertriebs G m b H (hereinafter 'Techex') and the Hauptzollamt (Principal Customs Office), Munich, concerning the tariff classification of 'Vista' boards.

3 According to the order for reference, a Vista board consists of printed circuits which are intended to be incorporated into automatic data-processing machines and which have integrated circuits (including, inter alia, graphics processors and memories) as well as active and passive processing components. The printed cir- cuits are designed either for the conversion (i. e. data capture), processing and stor- age of image data received in particular from external video sources in the form of standard television signals, or for the production of graphics.

'Heading N o 8471 does not cover machines incorporating or working in conjunc- tion with an automatic data-processing machine and performing a specific func- tion. Such machines are classified in the headings appropriate to their respective functions or, failing that, in residual headings.'

7 The Hauptzollamt, Munich, consequently classified the goods under heading N o 8543 of the Combined Nomenclature: 'Electrical machines and apparatus, hav- ing individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter' and levied customs duty at the rate of 7% on them. It sought post-clearance recovery of the difference.

8 O n 6 October 1994, the Finanzgericht (Finance Court) dismissed the action brought against those decisions. Techex then appealed on a point of law to the

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Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Finance Court), arguing that a Vista board did not have a 'specific function' since the processing of images was only a category of 'data processing' in a wider technological sense.

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The first question

10 By its first question the national court asks in effect whether image processing, as it can be carried out with an automatic data-processing machine unit which includes, inter alia, an analogue/digital converter, a high-quality graphics processor and a digital/analogue converter, must be regarded as the performance of 'a specific function', within the meaning of the last paragraph of N o t e 5(B) to Chapter 84 of the Combined Nomenclature.

1 1 As the Court has repeatedly held, the decisive criterion for the customs classifica- tion of goods must be sought generally in their objective characteristics and quali- ties, as defined in the relevant heading of the C o m m o n Customs Tariff and in the notes to the sections or chapters (see, in particular, the judgment in Case C-11/93 Siemens Nixdorf [1994] E C R 1-1945, paragraph 11).

12 Both the notes which head the chapters of the C o m m o n Customs Tariff and the Explanatory Notes to the Nomenclature of the Customs Operations Council are important means for ensuring the uniform application of the Tariff and as such may be regarded as useful aids to its interpretation (see Siemens Nixdorf, cited above, paragraph 12).

16 In the main proceedings, the national court considers that image processing con- stitutes a different function from that of data processing. However, it is clear from the observations of Techex and the Commission lodged with the Court that the three components of a Vista board, comprising an analogue/digital converter, a high-quality graphics processor and a digital/analogue converter, technically do nothing else than process data.

17 For the term 'data-processing' covers the processing of images, which form a data category.

18 The Commission contends, however, that, although it processes information, a Vista board performs a specific function within the meaning of the last paragraph of N o t e 5(B) to Chapter 84 of the Combined Nomenclature because it enables an automatic data-processing machine to perform a specific technical function, namely process images, which the national customs authorities must take into account on importation of the goods.

19 The Court observes that such an appraisal is not based on the objective character- istics and properties of the unit in question but on the functions which the unit enables an entire automatic data-processing machine to perform.

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O n those grounds,

T H E C O U R T (First Chamber),

in answer to the questions referred to it by the Bundesfinanzhof by order of 7 November 1995, hereby rules:

Image processing, as it can be carried out with an automatic data-processing machine unit which includes, inter alia, an analogue/digital converter, a high- quality graphics processor and a digital/analogue converter, is not to be regarded as the performance of a 'specific function' for the purposes of the last paragraph of Note 5(B) to Chapter 84 of the Combined Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) N o 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, as amended by the annexes to Commission Regulation (EEC) N o 3174/88 of 21 September 1988, Commission Regulation (EEC) N o 2886/89 of 2 August 1989 and Commission Regulation (EEC) N o 2472/90 of 31 July 1990.