COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 218/2003
of 4 February 2003 concerning the classification of certain goods in the Combined Nomenclature

- "Official Journal of the European Union", No L 29/5 of 5.2.2003 -

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff(1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2176/2002(2), and in particular Article 9 thereof,

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(1) OJL 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1.
(2) OJL 331, 7.12.2002, p. 3.

Whereas:

(1) In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined Nomenclature annexed to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classification of the goods referred to in the Annex to this Regulation.

(2) Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Those rules also apply to any other nomenclature which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any additional subdivision to it and which is established by specific Community provisions, with a view to the application of tariff and other measures relating to trade in goods.

(3) Pursuant to the said general rules, the goods described in column 1 of the table set out in the Annex to this Regulation should be classified under the CN code indicated in column 2, by virtue of the reasons set out in column 3.

(4) It is appropriate to provide that, subject to the measures in force in the Community relating to double checking systems and to prior and retrospective Community surveillance of imports of textile products into the Community, binding tariff information issued by the customs authorities of Member States in respect of the Nomenclature and which is not in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation, can continue to be invoked by the holder, under the provisions of Article 12(6) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2700/ 2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council(4), for a period of three months.

(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

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(3) OJL 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.
(4) OJL 311, 12.12.2000, p. 17.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The goods described in column 1 of the table set out in the Annex are classified within the Combined Nomenclature under the CN code indicated in column 2 of that table.

Article 2

Binding tariff information issued by the customs authorities of Member States which is not in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation can continue to be invoked under the provisions of Article 12(6) of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 for a period of three months.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 13 January 2003.

For the Commission
Pascal LAMY
Member of the Commission

 

ANNEX

 

Description of the goods

Classification CN code

Reasons

1

2

3

Frozen, translucent sheets of dough (e.g., 20 x 20 cm), made from wheat flour, water, vegetable oil and salt and having undergone a heat treatment at 90 °C for 15 seconds. The product contains 52,5 % by weight starch/glucose and less than 4 % by weight sugar.
These sheets are used directly, after thawing, for the preparation of spring rolls, which are then further cooked before consumption.

1905 90 90

Classification is determined by the provisions of General Rules 1 and 6 for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature and by the wording of CN codes 1905, 1905 90 and 1905 90 90.
Because of the heat treatment the starch is predominantly gelatinised. Therefore, the product is considered as partially cooked and, hence, it is excluded from heading 1901 (see the Harmonised System Explanatory Note to heading 1901, Part (II) exclusion (e)).