Request for a preliminary ruling from the Retten i Esbjerg (Denmark) lodged on 17 December 2021 – Skatteministeriet Departementet v Global Gravity ApS
(Case C-788/21)
Language of the case: Danish
Referring court
Retten i Esbjerg
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Skatteministeriet Departementet
Defendant: Global Gravity ApS
Questions referred
What criteria must be applied in order to determine whether an article constitutes a container under subheading 8609 00 9000 of the Combined Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff, as set out in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1001/2013 1 of 4 October 2013 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 2 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, including:
whether these criteria, each viewed in isolation, can lead to the classification of an article as a container;
whether an overall assessment of criteria should be made in order to determine whether an article should be classified as a container, so that the fulfilment of several criteria – but not all criteria – results in the article being classified as a container;
or
whether all the criteria must be met cumulatively before an article can be classified as a container?
Should the term ‘container’ under subheading 8609 00 9000 of the Combined Nomenclature of the Common Customs Tariff, in the version set out in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1001/2013 of 4 October 2013 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff, be interpreted as covering an article which is a system for transporting pipes, consisting of a number of aluminium lifting profiles, two steel lifting poles per lifting profile and two M20 bolts per lifting profile used to secure the lifting profiles. The pipes are placed on top of the lifting profiles. A new set of lifting profiles are added and then pipes are placed on top of those lifting profiles, and so on until the desired quantity of pipes is packed. A set of lifting profiles are always used to finish the system. Once the pipes are finished being packed in the lifting profiles, steel chains are attached to the lifting poles through each of the four corners (via eyelets on the lifting poles) and the article is ready to be loaded either by crane or by forklift truck if transport is by land.
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1 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1001/2013 of 4 October 2013 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ 2013 L 290, p. 1).
1 OJ 1987 L 256, p. 1.