Lopex Export GmbH contra Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61996CJ0315
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1998:31
• Docket Number: C-315/96
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Date: 29 January 1998

Avis juridique important

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61996J0315

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 29 January 1998. - Lopex Export GmbH v Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Finanzgericht Hamburg - Germany. - Customs duty - Classification of goods - Regulation amending classification - Binding tariff information issued previously - Validity. - Case C-315/96.

European Court reports 1998 Page I-00317

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

Keywords

Common Customs Tariff - Classification of goods - Binding tariff information - Scope - Protection of traders against any change in the interpretation by the customs authorities of the legislation in force - Limits - Amendment of that legislation - Article 13, first paragraph, first indent, of Regulation No 1715/90 - No breach of the principle of the protection of legitimate expectations or of the principle of legal certainty - Validity

(Council Regulation No 1715/90, Art. 13, first para., first indent)

Summary

The aim of binding tariff information is to enable the trader to proceed with certainty where there are doubts as to the classification of goods in the existing customs nomenclature, thereby protecting him against any subsequent change in the position adopted by the customs authorities with regard to the classification of the goods. However, as is confirmed clearly and precisely by the wording of the first indent of the first paragraph of Article 13 of Regulation No 1715/90 on the information provided by the customs authorities of the Member States concerning the classification of goods in the customs nomenclature, such information is not aimed at, nor can it have the effect of, guaranteeing that the tariff heading to which the trader refers will not subsequently be amended by a measure adopted by the Community legislature.

Accordingly, in so far as that article provides that binding tariff information ceases to be valid where, as a result of the adoption of a regulation amending the customs nomenclature, it no longer conforms to Community law as thus established, not only is it in keeping with the requirements inherent in the principle of legal certainty, but it also precludes the trader from being able to entertain, on the sole basis of binding tariff information, a legitimate expectation that the tariff heading in question will not be amended by a measure adopted by the Community legislature.

Moreover, that provision does not prevent the principles of the protection of legitimate expectations and legal certainty from imposing on the Community legislature, when the customs nomenclature is amended, the obligation to protect by means of appropriate measures traders who would otherwise sustain unforeseeable and irreparable damage, whether or not they are the addressees of binding tariff information.

Parties

In Case C-315/96,

REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EC Treaty by the Finanzgericht Hamburg (Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

Lopex Export GmbH

and

Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas

on the validity of the first indent of the first paragraph of Article 13 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1715/90 of 20 June 1990 on the information provided by the customs authorities of the Member States concerning the classification of goods in the customs nomenclature (OJ 1990 L 160, p. 1) and, if it is declared invalid, on the consequences of such invalidity,

THE COURT

(Fifth Chamber),

composed of: C. Gulmann (Rapporteur), President of the Chamber, J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, D.A.O. Edward, J.-P. Puissochet and P. Jann, Judges,

Advocate General: P. Léger,

Registrar: H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

- Lopex Export GmbH, by Jürgen Gündisch, Rechtsanwalt, Hamburg,

- the Council of the European Union, by Maria Cristina Giorgi and Guus Houttuin, Legal Advisers, acting as Agents,

- the Commission of the European Communities, by Fernando Castillo de la Torre, of its Legal Service, acting as Agent, and by Hans-Jürgen Rabe and Georg M. Berrisch, Rechtsanwälte, Hamburg, and members of the Brussels Bar,$

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of: Lopex Export GmbH, represented by Carsten Bittner, Rechtsanwalt, Hamburg; the Council, represented by Guus Houttuin; and the Commission, represented by Fernando Castillo de la Torre, assisted by Georg M. Berrisch, at the hearing on 16 September 1997,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 4 November 1997,

gives the following

Judgment

Grounds

1 By order of 12 August 1996, received at the Court on 26 September 1996, the Finanzgericht Hamburg referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EC Treaty two questions on the validity of the first indent of the first paragraph of Article 13 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1715/90 of 20 June 1990 on the information provided by the customs authorities of the Member States concerning the classification of goods in the customs nomenclature (OJ 1990 L 160, p. 1), and if it is declared invalid, on the consequences of such invalidity.

2 The questions were raised in proceedings between Lopex Export GmbH (hereinafter `Lopex') and the Hauptzollamt (Principal Customs Office) Hamburg-Jonas concerning the grant of export refunds for exports of partly desugared whey powder, marketed under the...