Decision 2020/1532 - EU position in the 66th session of the Harmonized System Committee of the World Customs Organization in relation to the envisaged adoption of Classification Opinions, classification decisions, amendments to the Harmonized System Explanatory Notes or other advice on the interpretation of the Harmonized System, and of recommendations to secure uniformity in the interpretation of the Harmonized System under the Harmonized System Convention - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 352/7

By Council Decision 87/369/EEC (1), the Union approved the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (2), and the Protocol of Amendment thereto (3) (HS Convention), which established the Harmonized System Committee (HSC).

Pursuant to points (b) and (c) of Article 7(1) of the HS Convention, the HSC is, inter alia, responsible for preparing Explanatory Notes, Classification Opinions, other advice on the interpretation of the Harmonized System and for preparing recommendations to secure uniformity in the interpretation and application of the Harmonized System.

The HSC is expected to decide on Classification Opinions, classification decisions, amendments to the Explanatory Notes or other advice on the interpretation of the Harmonized System and to decide on recommendations to secure uniformity in the interpretation of the Harmonized System under the HS Convention at its September 2020 session.

It is important to recall that, according to the settled case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in the interests of legal certainty and ease of verification, the decisive criterion for the classification of goods for customs purposes is, in general, to be sought in their objective characteristics and properties as defined in the wording of the relevant heading of the customs nomenclature and the relative section and chapter notes.

In view of the Classification Opinions, classification decisions, amendments to the Explanatory Notes or other advice on the interpretation of the Harmonized System, and of recommendations to secure uniformity in the interpretation of the HS Convention, it is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf, because, once accepted, those Classification Opinions, and certain of those classification decisions and amendments will be published in a Commission Communication under point (a)(iii) of Article 34(7) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), and become applicable to Member States. The position will be expressed at the HSC.

This Decision supplements Council Decision (EU) 2020/1410 (5),

Annexes C/4 and D/8 – Amendments to the Explanatory Notes (HS 2022) (Section VI)

Annexes C/5, D/9 and D/22 – Amendments to the Explanatory Notes (HS 2022) (Section VII)

Annexes C/8 and D/12 – Amendments to the Explanatory Notes consequential to the Article 16 Recommendation of 28 June 2019 (Section XIII)

Annexes C/13 and D/17 – Amendments to the Explanatory Notes consequential to the Article 16 Recommendation of 28 June 2019 (Section XX)

Annexes C/14 and D/18 – Possible amendments to the Explanatory Notes in respect of certain amusement park equipment (Proposal by the United States)

The Union shall agree to all proposed amendments in those documents.

Annexes C/1 and D/5 – Possible amendments to the Explanatory Notes to heading 15.09 in respect of other virgin olive oils, and heading 15.15 in respect of examples of microbial fats and oils

Concerning the HSENs to heading 15.09, the Union shall support the Union’s proposal (option 2) and the new Canadian proposal (option 3). In item (D)(2), the Union shall support the use of “or” (option 2) instead of “and/or”.

Concerning the HSENs to heading 15.15, the Union shall support the use of the expression “single cell organism” (option 1), and the use of “or” (option 2) instead of “and/or”. In examples (a) and (b), the Union shall support the use of the expression “obtained from” (option 2).

Annexes C/3 and D/7 – Possible amendments to the Explanatory Notes in respect of “placebos” and “double-blinded clinical trial kits” in heading 30.06 (Request by Australia)

Concerning the sentence “The placebos of this heading also include [control vaccines] [controlled vaccines] [vaccines which are used as control substances and] that have been licensed for use in recognized clinical trials.”, the Union shall not support adding this sentence to the text of item (12) of the HSENs to heading 30.06, as it is not clear what kind of substances are described by it. If the other Contracting Parties decide to add it, the Union shall support “vaccines which are used as control substances” (option 3), or if flexibility is needed, “control vaccines” (option 1).

Concerning the sentence “[Active ingredients to be trialled can include herbal medicinal products [for therapeutic or prophylactic uses].]”, the Union shall remain flexible for adding it to the text, but shall not support an open list of examples as suggested by the United States.

Annexes C/6 and D/10 – Amendments to the Explanatory Notes Consequential to the Article 16 Recommendation of 28 June 2019 (Section IX)

The Union shall support the proposal to add Subheading Explanatory Notes to subheadings 4 412,41, 4 412,42 and 4 412,49. The Union shall request that the proposed text needs to be further analysed and improved in order to bring it in line with the current classification practices in the Union (for example, the orientation of the veneers).

Annexes C/7 and D/11 – Amendments to the Explanatory Notes consequential to the Article 16 Recommendation of 28 June 2019 (Sections XI and XII)

The Union shall support adding “paraseismic wall covering” and “geotextiles” to the list of examples of electronic textiles. In the text on “geotextiles”, the Union shall support the text “a sensor made of fibres or at least being fully integrated in the fibres” (option 2) as previously suggested by the Union.

The Union shall support provisionally adopting the texts approved by the HS Review Sub-Committee.

Annexes C/12 and D/16 – Amendments to the Explanatory Notes Consequential to the Article 16 Recommendation of 28 June 2019 (Section XVII)

The Union shall support adding the reference to permanently integrated cameras in paragraph 3 of the HSENs to heading 88.06, provided that the Classification Opinion classifying a drone with an integrated camera in heading 85.25 is reviewed and aligned with HS 2022 and HSEN.

In relation to paragraph 4 of the HSENs to heading 88.06, the Union shall support the proposal by China with additional technical criteria introduced by the Union (second option).

Annexes C/15 and D/19 – Possible amendment to the Explanatory Notes to Chapter 97 in respect of certain cultural articles (Proposal by the United States)

The Union shall not support the list of items mentioned as examples, as these are very specific and limited to explain the scope of the articles to be classified under subheading 9 705,10.

The Union further notes that the definitions and examples provided would not give clarity on how to classify for example “traditional national costumes” or “old cars”.

Annexes C/16 and D/20 – Amendment to the GIR’s Explanatory Notes (HS 2022)

The Union shall support the original proposal by the WCO Secretariat (option 1, using the term “merely”, but remaining flexible for the expression “not further worked than”) and shall request to align the texts in English and French.