Report of the Judge-Rapporteur in Case C-108/92

I — Relevant Community provisions

The 1990 Combined Nomenclature was laid down by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2886/89 of 2 August 1989, amending Annex I of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (OJ 1989 L 282, p. 1).

Chapter 90 of Section XVIII of the Nomenclature describes heading 9030 as covering Oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers and other instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking electrical quantities; instruments and apparatus for measuring or detecting alpha, beta, gamma, X-ray, cosmic or other ionizing radiations'. Within this heading, which includes a number of specified instruments and pieces of apparatus, is subheading 90308190 which covers other (unspecified) instruments and apparatus, which have a recording device and which are not intended for use in civil aircraft.

Moreover, Chapter 84 of Section XVI of the Combined Nomenclature includes heading 8479 which covers machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter (84). Subheading 84798980 covers machines and appliances other than those mentioned in preceding subheadings.

II — Facts and Procedure

1. On 9 May 1990 the Oberfinanzdirektion Berlin issued Astro-Med GmbH (Astro-Med) with an official notice of a tariff classification under subheading 90308190 for a thermorecorder of a particular kind (casing with inter alia an analogue/digital converter), described as a piece of apparatus which converts electrical input signals, records them as a curve and serves for the display and recording of measured values.

2. By order of 21 January 1992 the Bundesfinanzhof referred the following question to the Court for a preliminary ruling:

3. The order of the Bundesfinanzhof was registered at the Court Registry on 2 April 1992.

III — Summary of written observations submitted to the Court

1. Astro-Med considers that the reply to the question should be in the negative.

2. The Commission also thinks that the reply to the question should be in the negative.

1 Language of the case: German.