LegalizeCommission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1577 of 21 September 2020 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1577
of 21 September 2020
amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff
Article 1
Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2021.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
ANNEX I
PART ONE
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
SECTION I
GENERAL RULES
Classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature shall be governed by the following principles:
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.
(a) Any reference in a heading to an article shall be taken to include a reference to that article incomplete or unfinished, provided that, as presented, the incomplete or unfinished article has the essential character of the complete or finished article. It shall also be taken to include a reference to that article complete or finished (or falling to be classified as complete or finished by virtue of this rule), presented unassembled or disassembled.
(b) Any reference in a heading to a material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to mixtures or combinations of that material or substance with other materials or substances. Any reference to goods of a given material or substance shall be taken to include a reference to goods consisting wholly or partly of such material or substance. The classification of goods consisting of more than one material or substance shall be according to the principles of rule 3.
When, by application of rule 2(b) or for any other reason, goods are prima facie classifiable under two or more headings, classification shall be effected as follows:
(a) the heading which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to headings providing a more general description. However, when two or more headings each refer to part only of the materials or substances contained in mixed or composite goods or to part only of the items in a set put up for retail sale, those headings are to be regarded as equally specific in relation to those goods, even if one of them gives a more complete or precise description of the goods; (b) mixtures, composite goods consisting of different materials or made up of different components, and goods put up in sets for retail sale, which cannot be classified by reference to 3(a), shall be classified as if they consisted of the material or component which gives them their essential character, in so far as this criterion is applicable; (c) when goods cannot be classified by reference to 3(a) or (b), they shall be classified under the heading which occurs last in numerical order among those which equally merit consideration.
Goods which cannot be classified in accordance with the above rules shall be classified under the heading appropriate to the goods to which they are most akin.
In addition to the foregoing provisions, the following rules shall apply in respect of the goods referred to therein:
(a) camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, drawing-instrument cases, necklace cases and similar containers, specially shaped or fitted to contain a specific article or set of articles, suitable for long-term use and presented with the articles for which they are intended, shall be classified with such articles when of a kind normally sold therewith. This rule does not, however, apply to containers which give the whole its essential character; (b) subject to the provisions of rule 5(a), packing materials and packing containers (1) presented with the goods therein shall be classified with the goods if they are of a kind normally used for packing such goods. However, this provision is not binding when such packing materials or packing containers are clearly suitable for repetitive use.
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.
The customs duties applicable to imported goods originating in countries which are Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or with which the European Union has concluded agreements containing the most-favoured-nation tariff clause shall be the conventional duties shown in column 3 of the schedule of duties. Unless the context requires otherwise, these conventional duties are applicable to goods, other than those referred to above, imported from any third country.
The conventional rates of duty reproduced in column 3 are applicable from 1 January 2021. When autonomous rates of duty are lower than the conventional rates of duty, the autonomous duties, shown by means of a footnote, are applicable.
Paragraph 1 shall not apply where special autonomous customs duties are provided for in respect of goods originating in certain countries or where preferential customs duties are applicable in pursuance of agreements.
Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not preclude the Member States from applying customs duties other than those of the Common Customs Tariff where the application of such other duties is justified by the law of the European Union.
The duties expressed as percentage rates are ad valorem duties.
The symbol ‘EA’ indicates that the goods concerned are chargeable with an ‘agricultural component’ fixed in accordance with Annex 1.
The symbol ‘AD S/Z’ or ‘AD F/M’ in Chapters 17 to 19 indicates that the maximum rate of duty consists of an ad valorem duty plus an additional duty for certain forms of sugar or for flour. This additional duty is fixed in accordance with the provisions of Annex 1.
In Chapter 22, the symbol ‘€ /% vol/hl’ means that a specific duty, expressed in euro, is to be calculated for each percentage volume of alcohol per hectolitre. Thus, a beverage having an alcohol content by volume of 40 % is to be charged as follows:
— ‘€ 1/% vol/hl’ = € 1 × 40, giving a duty of € 40 per hectolitre, or — ‘€ 1/% vol/hl + € 5/hl’ = € 1 × 40 plus € 5, giving a duty of € 45 per hectolitre. Where, in addition, a minimum (MIN) value is shown, for example ‘€ 1,6/% vol/hl MIN € 9/hl’, it means that the duty, calculated on the basis of the above rule, is to be compared with the minimum duty, for example ‘€ 9/hl’, and the higher of the two is to be applied.
Where, in Chapters 17 to 19 and 21 a maximum (MAX) value is shown, for example ‘(9 + EA) MAX (24,2 + AD S/Z)', it means that the duty calculated by the addition of 9 % and the ‘agricultural component' (EA) may not exceed the sum of 24,2 % and the additional duty on sugar (‘AD S/Z').
Unless provided otherwise, the provisions relating to customs value shall be applied to determine, in addition to the value for the assessment of ad valorem customs duties, the values by reference to which the scope of certain headings or subheadings is defined.
The dutiable weight, in the case of goods chargeable by weight, and the weights by reference to which the scope of certain headings or subheadings is defined, shall be taken to be:
(a) in the case of a reference to ‘gross weight’, the aggregate weight of the goods and of all the packing materials and packing containers; (b) in the case of a reference to ‘net weight’ or simply to ‘weight’ without qualification, the weight of the goods themselves without packing materials and packing containers of any kind.
The equivalent in national currencies of the euro, for Member States other than participating Member States as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 (2) (hereafter called ‘non-participating Member States’), shall be fixed in accordance with Article 53 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 (3) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Goods eligible for favourable tariff treatment by reason of their end-use:
Where the import duty applicable under the end-use arrangements to goods for a specific end-use is not lower than that which would otherwise be applicable to the goods, the said goods shall be classified in the code referring to the end-use and Article 254 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 shall not apply.
SECTION II
SPECIAL PROVISIONS
Customs duties shall be suspended in respect of goods intended for incorporation in the ships, boats or other vessels listed in the following schedule, for the purposes of their construction, repair, maintenance or conversion, and in respect of goods intended for fitting to or equipping such ships, boats or other vessels.
Customs duties shall be suspended in respect of:
(a) goods intended for incorporation in drilling or production platforms: (1) fixed, of subheading ex 8430 49 , operating in or outside the territorial sea of Member States, or (2) floating or submersible, of subheading 8905 20 , for the purposes of their construction, repair, maintenance or conversion, and in respect of goods intended for equipping the said platforms. Those goods such as motor fuel, lubricants and gas, which are necessary for the operation of machines and apparatus which do not affect permanently, and are not integral parts of the platforms and which are used on board for the construction, repair, maintenance, conversion or equipping of these platforms are regarded also as being used for incorporation in drilling or production platforms; (b) tubes, pipes, cables and their connection pieces, linking these drilling or production platforms to the mainland. CN code Description 1 2 8901 Cruise ships, excursion boats, ferry-boats, cargo ships, barges and similar vessels for the transport of persons or goods : 8901 10 – Cruise ships, excursion boats and similar vessels principally designed for the transport of persons; ferry-boats of all kinds : 8901 10 10 – – Seagoing 8901 20 – Tankers : 8901 20 10 – – Seagoing 8901 30 – Refrigerated vessels, other than those of subheading 8901 20 : 8901 30 10 – – Seagoing 8901 90 – Other vessels for the transport of goods and other vessels for the transport of both persons and goods : 8901 90 10 – – Seagoing 8902 00 Fishing vessels; factory ships and other vessels for processing or preserving fishery products : 8902 00 10 – Seagoing 8903 Yachts and other vessels for pleasure or sports; rowing boats and canoes : – Other : 8903 91 – – Sailboats, with or without auxiliary motor : 8903 91 10 – – – Seagoing 8903 92 – – Motorboats, other than outboard motorboats : 8903 92 10 – – – Seagoing 8904 00 Tugs and pusher craft : 8904 00 10 – Tugs – Pusher craft: 8904 00 91 – – Seagoing 8905 Light-vessels, fire-floats, dredgers, floating cranes, and other vessels the navigability of which is subsidiary to their main function; floating docks; floating or submersible drilling or production platforms : 8905 10 – Dredgers : 8905 10 10 – – Seagoing 8905 90 – Other : 8905 90 10 – – Seagoing 8906 Other vessels, including warships and lifeboats other than rowing boats : 8906 10 00 – Warships 8906 90 – Other : 8906 90 10 – – Seagoing
The suspensions shall be subject to conditions laid down in the relevant provisions of the European Union with a view to customs control of the use of such goods.
Relief from customs duty is provided for:
— civil aircraft, — certain goods for use in civil aircraft and for incorporation therein in the course of their manufacture, repair, maintenance, rebuilding, modification or conversion, — ground flying-trainers and their parts, for civil use. These goods are covered by headings and subheadings listed in tables in paragraph 5.
For the purposes of paragraph 1, first and second indent, ‘civil aircraft’ means aircraft other than aircraft used in military or similar services in the Member States which carry a military or non-civil registration.
For the purposes of paragraph 1, second indent, the expression ‘for use in civil aircraft’ shall include goods for use in ground flying trainers for civil use.
Relief from customs duties shall be subject to the conditions laid down in the relevant provisions of the European Union with a view to customs control of the use of such goods (see Article 254 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013).
However, these conditions shall not apply in cases where civil aircraft falling under subheadings 8802 11 , 8802 12 , 8802 20 , 8802 30 , 8802 40 have been duly entered on a register of a Member State or a third country in accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation dated 7 December 1944 and reference is made in the customs declaration for release for free circulation to the relevant certificate of registration. The provisions of the CN Preliminary Provisions, Section I – General Rules, point C. 4. shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Goods eligible for this relief from customs duties are covered by the following headings or subheadings:
Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published in the Official Journal of the European Union. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original to this format.