Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/712 of 25 May 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) 2020/712 of 25 May 2020 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 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 OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1. , and in particular Article 9(1), point (e), thereof, Whereas: (1) Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 established a nomenclature of goods (hereinafter referred to as the CN), which is set out in Annex I to that Regulation. (2) Subheading 24039910 of the CN covers chewing tobacco and snuff, which are smokeless tobacco products. (3) Regulation (EEC) No 950/68 of the Council Regulation (EEC) No 950/68 of the Council of 28 June 1968 on the common customs tariff (OJ L 172, 22.7.1968, p. 1). , which laid down the Common Customs Tariff, the predecessor of the CN, was adopted in only four languages: German, French, Italian and Dutch. In those language versions, the products now referred to in subheading 24039910 are referred to as Kautabak und Schnupftabak in German, as tabac à mâcher et tabac à priser in French, as tabacco da masticare e tabacco da fiuto in Italian and pruimtabak en snuif in Dutch. (4) In the English version of the Common Customs Tariff, which dates from 1973 and thus postdates the German, French, Italian and Dutch language versions, the products now referred to in subheading 24039910 are referred to as chewing tobacco and snuff. (5) In English, the word snuff, when used about tobacco products, means a preparation of pulverized tobacco to be inhaled through the nostrils, chewed, or placed against the gums. The English language version of the CN and some other language versions have thus led to confusion as to whether the term snuff should be restricted to products that can be inhaled through the nose or also include preparations of pulverized tobacco that can be placed against the gums. (6) All different language versions of Union acts are authentic, but later language versions cannot expand or restrict the scope of Union Acts that predate those later language versions. (7) It is clear from the German, French, Italian and Dutch language versions that the intention of the legislator was to restrict the products referred to in subheading 24039910 of the CN to chewing tobacco and tobacco products that can be inhaled through the nose. In order to ensure a uniform interpretation of the CN throughout the Union and thus to ensure legal certainty, the wording of subheading 24039910 should therefore be amended to clarify that the meaning of the terms snuff should be restricted to nasal tobacco. (8) Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 should therefore be amended accordingly. (9) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The row for CN code 24039910 of Chapter 24 of Part Two of the Combined Nomenclature set out in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 is replaced by the following: 24039910--- Chewing tobacco and snuff (nasal tobacco)41,6—

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. Done at Brussels, 25 May 2020. For the Commission, On behalf of the President, Philip Kermode Acting Director-General Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union