Opinion of Mr advocate general Mayras

Mr President,

Members of the Court,

This reference for a preliminary ruling, brought before the Court by the Finanzgericht [Finance Court] Bremen, concerns the interpretation of subheadings 56.01 A and 59.01 B I of the Common Customs Tariff, which are to be found in Section XI of the tariff (Textiles and Textile Articles).

One must also be certain that there is no other criterion which should be taken into consideration. The plaintiff suggests the test of whether they are suitable for spinning in order to distinguish products of heading 56.01, which are suitable, from those of heading 59.01, which are not. In view of the fact that, at least in the present state of the art, fibres which are cut to a length as short as those in this case cannot be spun, they cannot be classified in heading 56.01. Seven specialized technical organizations consulted by Mecke likewise broadly adopted the test of suitability for spinning, reaching the same conclusion as the plaintiff.

Still to be considered, however, is the question whether the fibres in dispute may fall within subheading 59.01 A of the Customs Tariff as textile flock and dust of man-made fibres.

That is the opinion of the plaintiff in the main action, in whose view the Customs Tariff, at least as elucidated in the Explanatory Notes to the Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature, has merely confirmed trade practice in classifying as flock and dust, rather than textile fibres, fibres such as those in this case which are made by cutting textile filaments or fibres into very short lengths.

The plaintiff considers that this cutting into very short lengths removes from the product its character of textile fibre in the same way as, to take just one of the examples given by its representative at the hearing, when a wooden pole is cut into extremely short lengths it produces, not other poles, but wooden discs.

Nevertheless, as the law stands at present I must conclude that the Court should decide that:

1 Translated from the French.