ECJ Common Customs Tariff – Heading 99.02 – Original lithographs. Proofs printed from a plate wholly executed by hand by the artist are to be regarded as original lithographs for the purposes of Heading 99.02 of the Common Customs Tariff even if the printing has been made by means of a mechanical printing process . Proofs printed as a result of a reprinting process in which the original design made on special paper called transfer or Berlin paper is transferred several times, first from the transfer paper to the stone, then from the stone to fresh transfer paper which in turn is transferred to a new stone to enable the print of a second series and so on until the desired number of multiple impressions is achieved are also to be regarded as original lithographs.
Although the number of proofs printed from a single original design may be evidence of the non-original nature of the work, it cannot in itself constitute a decisive criterion for the definition of an original lithograph.
Judges:
TF O’ Higgins P
Citations:
R-291/87, [1988] EUECJ R-291/87
Links:
Jurisdiction:
European
Customs and Excise
Updated: 21 June 2022; Ref: scu.215661