KAHL G.m.b.H. & Co. K.G. and C.E. Roeper GmbH v Hauptzollamt Hannover and Hauptzollamt Hamburg.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2021:892
• Docket Number: C-197/20,C-216/20
• Date: 28 October 2021
• Celex Number: 62020CJ0197
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)

Provisional text

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Ninth Chamber)

28 October 2021 (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Customs union – Common Customs Tariff – Tariff classification – Combined Nomenclature – Tariff subheadings 1521 90 91 and 1521 90 99 – Interpretation of the Explanatory Notes to subheading 1521 90 99 – Beeswax melted down and solidified prior to import)

In Joined Cases C‑197/20 and C‑216/20,

REQUESTS for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Finanzgericht Hamburg (Finance Court, Hamburg, Germany), made by decisions of 14 April 2020, received at the Court on 7 May 2020, in the proceedings

KAHL GmbH & Co. KG

v

Hauptzollamt Hannover (C‑197/20),

and

C. E. Roeper GmbH

v

Hauptzollamt Hamburg (C‑216/20),

THE COURT (Ninth Chamber),

composed of K. Jürimäe, President of the Third Chamber, acting as President of the Ninth Chamber, S. Rodin and N. Piçarra (Rapporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: J. Richard de la Tour,

Registrar: A. Calot Escobar,

having regard to the written procedure,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– KAHL GmbH & Co. KG, by T. Peterka, Rechtsanwalt,

– C. E. Roeper GmbH, by M. Hackert, Rechtsanwalt,

– the European Commission, by L. Mantl and M. Salyková, acting as Agents,

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

gives the following

Judgment

1 These requests for a preliminary ruling concern the interpretation of subheadings 1521 90 91 and 1521 90 99 of the Combined Nomenclature (‘the CN’) in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ 1987 L 256, p. 1), in the versions resulting from Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1101/2014 of 16 October 2014 (OJ 2014 L 312, p. 1), and from Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1754 of 6 October 2015 (OJ 2015 L 285, p. 1).

2 The requests have been made in two sets of proceedings between, on the one hand, KAHL GmbH & Co. KG (‘KAHL’) and the Hauptzollamt Hannover (Principal Customs Office, Hanover, Germany) and, on the other hand, C. E. Roeper GmbH (‘Roeper’) and Hauptzollamt Hamburg (Principal Customs Office, Hamburg, Germany) concerning the tariff classification of melted and solidified beeswax imported into Germany by those companies.

Legal context

International law

3 The Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (‘the HS’) was established by the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, concluded in Brussels on 14 June 1983 within the framework of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and approved, together with its Protocol of Amendment of 24 June 1986, on behalf of the European Economic Community by Council Decision 87/369/EEC of 7 April 1987 (OJ 1987 L 198, p. 1).

4 The Explanatory Notes to the HS, drawn up within the WCO, in accordance with the provisions of that convention, in the version applicable to the facts in the main proceedings, contain the following information concerning ‘beeswax and other insect waxes, whether or not refined or coloured’, under subheading 1521 90 of the HS:

‘Beeswax is the substance with which bees build the hexagonal cells of the combs in their hives. In the natural state it has a granular structure and is light yellow, orange or sometimes brown, with a particularly agreeable smell; when bleached and purified, it is white or faintly yellow with a very slight smell.

It is used, inter alia, for the manufacture of candles, waxed cloth or paper, mastics, polishes, etc.

[…]

Beeswax and other insect waxes are classified in this heading whether in the raw state (including in natural combs), or pressed or refined, whether or not bleached or coloured.’

EU law

The CN

5 As is apparent from Article 1(1) of Regulation No 2658/87, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 254/2000 of 31 January 2000 (OJ 2000 L 28, p. 16), the CN, established by the European Commission, governs the tariff classification of goods imported into the European Union. It reproduces the HS six-digit headings and subheadings, with only the seventh and eighth figures creating further subheadings which are specific to it.

6 The general rules for the interpretation of the CN, which are set out in Part One, Section I, A thereof, provide:

‘Classification of goods in the [CN] shall be governed by the following principles:

1. The titles of sections, chapters and sub-chapters are provided for ease of reference only; for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes and, provided such headings or notes do not otherwise require, according to the following provisions.

[…]

6. For legal purposes, the classification of goods in the subheadings of a heading shall be determined according to the terms of those subheadings and any related subheading notes and, mutatis mutandis, to the above rules, on the understanding that only subheadings at the same level are comparable. For the purposes of this rule, the relative section and chapter notes also apply, unless the context requires otherwise.’

7 Under Article 12(1) of Regulation No 2658/87, as amended by Regulation No 254/2000, the Commission is to adopt each year a regulation reproducing the complete version of the CN, together with the rates of duty, as resulting from measures adopted by the Council of the European Union or the Commission. That regulation is to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union not later than 31 October, to apply from 1 January of the following year.

8 Implementing Regulations No 1101/2014 and No 2015/1754 were adopted on the basis of that provision. Each of those regulations amended the CN with effect from 1 January 2015 and 1 January 2016, respectively. The provisions of that nomenclature which are relevant to the cases in the main proceedings have, however, retained the same wording.

9 Part Two of the CN, as set out in each of those implementing regulations, entitled ‘Schedule of customs duties’, contains Section III, headed ‘Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes’.

10 That section includes Chapter 15, with the same title, which includes heading 1521 of the CN, structured as follows:

CN code	Description of the goods	Conventional rate of duty (%)
1521	Vegetable waxes (other than triglycerides), beeswax, other insect waxes and spermaceti, whether or not refined or coloured
1521 10 00	– Vegetable waxes	[…]
1521 90	– Other
1521 90 10	– – Spermaceti, whether or not refined or coloured	[…]
	– – Beeswax and other insect waxes, whether or not refined or coloured
1521 90 91	‐ ‐ ‐ Raw	Exemption
1521 90 99	– – – Other	2.5.’

The Explanatory Notes to the CN

11 The Explanatory Notes to the CN are adopted by the Commission pursuant to the first indent of Article 9(1)(a) of Regulation No 2658/87, as amended by Regulation No 254/2000.

12 Those published in the Official Journal of the European Union of 4 March 2015 (OJ 2015 C 76, p. 1) state:

‘1521 90 91	Raw This subheading includes waxes in natural combs.
1521 90 99	Other This subheading includes waxes, pressed or refined, whether or not bleached or coloured.’

Regulation (EU) No 142/2011

13 Article 25(1)(c) of Commission Regulation (EU) No 142/2011 of 25 February 2011...