Staatssecretaris van Financiën v Sony Supply Chain Solutions (Europe) BV.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 62010CJ0153
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2011:224
• Date: 07 April 2011
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Docket Number: C-153/10

Case C-153/10

Staatssecretaris van Financiën

v

Sony Supply Chain Solutions (Europe) BV, formerly Sony Logistics Europe BV

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden)

(Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 – Community Customs Code – Articles 12(2) and (5), 217(1) and 243 – Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 – Implementing provisions of Regulation No 2913/92 – Articles 10 and 11 – Classification of goods – Binding tariff information – Invocation by a trader other than the holder with respect to the same goods – Legitimate expectation)

Summary of the Judgment

1. Common Customs Tariff – Classification of goods – Binding tariff information

(Council Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 82/97, Arts 5(4) and 12(2); Commission Regulation No 2454/93, as amended by Regulation No 12/97, Arts 10 and 11)

2. Common Customs Tariff – Classification of goods – Binding tariff information – Challenge by an interested party of the levying of customs duties – Means of proof

(Council Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 82/97, Arts 12(2) and (5), 217(1) and 243; Commission Regulation No 2454/93, as amended by Regulation No 12/97, Art. 11)

3. Common Customs Tariff – Classification of goods – Binding tariff information

(Council Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 82/97, Art. 12; Commission Regulation No 2454/93, as amended by Regulation No 12/97, Art. 10(1))

1. Article 12(2) of Regulation No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Regulation No 82/97, and Articles 10 and 11 of Regulation No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 12/97, must be interpreted as meaning that a person who makes customs declarations in his own name and on his own behalf cannot rely on a binding tariff information of which he is not the holder, but which is held by an associated company on whose instructions he made those declarations.

The second subparagraph of Article 5(4) of the Customs Code provides that the person who fails to state that he is acting in the name of or on behalf of another person or who states that he is acting in the name of or on behalf of another person without being empowered to do so is to be deemed to be acting in his own name and on his own behalf. It follows that the representation must be express and cannot be implied. The fact that two companies are part of the same group or that one is the fiscal representative of the other does not confer on the former the status of representative within the meaning of Article 5 of the Customs Code.

(see paras 31, 34-35, operative part 1)

2. Articles 12(2) and (5) and 217(1) of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 82/97, and Article 11 of Regulation No 2454/93 as amended by Regulation No 12/97, read in conjunction with Article 243 of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 82/97, must be interpreted as meaning that, in proceedings relating to the imposition of customs duties, an interested party may challenge that imposition by submitting as evidence a binding tariff information issued in respect of the same goods in another Member State although the binding tariff information cannot produce the legal effects attaching to it. It is, however, for the national court to determine whether the relevant procedural rules of the Member State concerned provide for the possibility of producing such types of evidence.

(see para. 44, operative part 2)

3. Article 12 of Regulation No 2913/92, as amended by Regulation No 82/97, and Article 10(1) of Regulation No 2454/93, as amended by Regulation No 12/97, must be interpreted as meaning that a national policy which allows national authorities to refer, for the purpose of the tariff classification of declared goods, to a binding tariff information issued to a third party for the same goods, could not give rise, on the part of traders, to a legitimate expectation that they could rely on that policy.

(see paras 47, 49-50, operative part 3)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Sixth Chamber)

7 April 2011 (*)

(Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 – Community Customs Code – Articles 12(2) and (5), 217(1) and 243 – Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 – Implementing provisions of Regulation No 2913/92 – Articles 10 and 11 – Classification of goods – Binding tariff information – Invocation by a trader other than the holder with respect to the same goods – Legitimate expectation)

In Case C‑153/10,

REFERENCE for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU, from the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Netherlands), made by decision of 12 March 2010, received at the Court on 1 April 2010, in the proceedings

Staatssecretaris van Financiën

v

Sony Supply Chain Solutions (Europe) BV, formerly Sony Logistics Europe BV,

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber),

composed of A. Arabadjiev, President of the Chamber, A. Rosas and P. Lindh (Rapporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: P. Mengozzi,

Registrar: A. Impellizzeri, Administrator,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 3 February 2011,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– Sony Supply Chain Solutions (Europe) BV, formerly Sony Logistics Europe BV, by P. De Baere, advocaat,

– the Netherlands Government, by C.M. Wissels and B. Koopman, acting as Agents,

– the Czech Government, by M. Smolek and K. Havlíčková, acting as Agents,

– the European Commission, by B.-R. Killmann and W. Roels, acting as Agents,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This reference for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 12(2) and (5), 217(1) and 243 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (OJ 1992 L 302, p. 1), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 82/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 1996 OJ 1997, L 17, p. 1 and the corrigendum OJ 1997 L 179, p. 11 (‘the Customs Code’), and Articles 10 and 11 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 12/97 of 18 December 1996 (OJ 1997 L 9, p. 1) (‘the implementing regulation’).

2 The reference has been made in proceedings between the Staatssecretaris van Financiën and Sony Logistics Europe BV, now Sony Supply Chain Solutions (Europe) BV (‘SLE’) concerning the payment of customs duties on video game consoles.

Legal context

The Customs Code

3 Article 4 of the Customs Code is worded as follows:

‘For the purposes of this Code, the following definitions shall apply:

…

(5) “Decision” means any official act by the customs authorities pertaining to customs rules giving a ruling on a particular case, such act having legal effects on one or more specific or identifiable persons; this term covers inter alia a binding tariff information within the meaning of Article 12.

…’

4 Article 5 of the Customs Code states:

‘1. Under the conditions set out in Article 64(2) and subject to the provisions adopted within the framework of Article 243(2)(b), any person may appoint a representative in his dealings with the customs authorities to perform the acts and formalities laid down by customs rules.

2. Such representation may be:

– direct, in which case the representative shall act in the name of and on behalf of another person, or

– indirect, in which case the representatives shall act in his own name but on behalf of another person.

…

4. A representative must state that he is acting on behalf of the person represented, specify whether the representation is direct or indirect and be empowered to act as a representative.

A person who fails to state that he is acting in the name of or on behalf of another person or who states that he is acting in the name of or on behalf of another person without being empowered to do so shall be deemed to be acting in his own name and on his own behalf.

…’

5 Article 12 of the Customs Code provides:

‘…

2. The customs authorities shall issue binding tariff information or binding origin information on written request, acting in accordance with the committee procedure.

Binding tariff information or binding origin information shall be binding on the customs authorities only in respect of goods on which customs formalities are completed after the date on which the information was supplied by them.

…

5. Binding information shall cease to be valid:

(a) in the case of tariff information:

…

(iii) where it is revoked or amended in accordance with Article 9, provided that the revocation or...