ECJ The suspension of customs duties pursuant to Regulation No 3563/84 applying generalized tariff preferences for 1985 to textile products originating in developing countries is dependent upon the Nimexe code corresponding to the imported product being referred to in one of the two annexes to the regulation. Men’ s linen windcheaters imported from China and South Korea do not qualify for suspension of duties, since they cannot fall within Annex I to the regulation, which is restricted to products manufactured from wool, cotton or man-made fibres, and their code is not referred to in Annex II. This conclusion cannot be disputed on the ground that the failure to refer to their code is an omission due to an oversight on the part of the Council which the Court should rectify. Under Article 28 of the Treaty any autonomous alteration or suspension of duties in the Common Customs Tariff is to be decided by the Council. It therefore falls to the Council and not to the Court to identify, on the basis of criteria determined by it, the products qualifying for suspension of duties. The fact that their code was referred to in subsequent years cannot be invoked either, since the amendment of a provision in a regulation does not mean that earlier versions of that provision must be construed in accordance with that amendment.
Citations:
C-304/92, [1993] EUECJ C-304/92
Links:
European, Customs and Excise
Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.160963
