Greetings!

April has been a relatively quiet month for customs developments.  The Pace/ BSkyB case on classification of Set Top Boxes (STB) with recording functions was finally decided by the European Court of Justice.  This is good news for Hi Tech industry and a good example of how it pays to be persistent with your arguments where the tariff falls behind developments in your industry.  The ECJ has also ruled that associated companies cannot rely on BTI rulings held by sister companies.  This should act as a catalyst for you to dig out your existing rulings and check they are in the name of the relevant importing entity.

The ECJ recently ruled on whether a company could rely on a BTI issued to another party (in this case a sister company). 

The Sony Case (153/10) found that an importer (Sony Supply Chain Solutions) could not rely on a BTI issued to another party (Sony Computer Entertainment (Europe)) if it was acting in its own name and on its own behalf rather than as a direct or indirect representative for the BTI holder.  The fact that the importer was an associate company and acting on instructions of the BTI holder did not extend the protection of the BTI.

The ECJ did go on to state that an interested party may challenge the imposition of customs duties by submitting as evidence a BTI issued in respect of the same goods in another Member State although the BTI cannot produce the legal effects attached to it.  The BTI will be persuasive but not legally binding.

 Read the full article..........

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