Court of Justice (Seventh Chamber) 27 November 2008, C-403/07 (Metherma GmbH & Co. KG v Hauptzollamt Düsseldorf.)

Also known as

In a preliminary ruling concerning tariff classification under the Combined Nomenclature laid down in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2388/2000, the Court of Justice of the European Union addressed whether bars of tungsten or molybdenum obtained simply by sintering could be converted into waste and scrap through manual shattering for the purpose of processing under customs control. The Court held that bars of tungsten or molybdenum 'obtained simply by sintering' fall respectively under subheadings 8101 91 10 and 8102 91 10 as metals in their unwrought form rather than articles thereof. Consequently, such bars cannot be processed into scrap falling under subheadings 8101 91 90 and 8102 91 90 merely by being broken up or shattered.AI