Brussels, 15/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - In the combined nomenclature published each year by the Commission, decoders with a hard disk drive must be classified, for customs purposes, as set-top boxes with a communication function and not as recording apparatus. They will therefore be exempt from customs duties instead of being subject to a rate of 13.9%, as is the case for recording apparatus. Such was the ruling of the EU Court of Justice in Joined Cases C-288/09 and C-289/09 on Thursday 14 April.
The Court justified its decision by pointing out that electrical devices that have several functions, and which are therefore likely to be classified in different product categories for customs purposes, must be classified according to the apparatus' main function. In the case in hand, it explains that, by subscribing to a provider of digital television services (Sky+ in this case), the consumer is mainly motivated by the possibility of gaining access to television channels and that, for this, a decoder is required. The television programme recording function, which is also available on that model, is merely an additional service. Consumers who choose that product are seeking, primarily, not a recording function but rather a function of decoding television signals. In this respect, the Court comments that the Sky+ box cannot record video content from any other external source such as television receivers, cameras or video recorders. Neither can it play video content from external media. (F.G./transl.jl)