Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

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^f1, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1734/96^f2, and in particular Article 9 thereof,

Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 2564/95^f3 lays down measures concerning the classification in the combined nomenclature of products including a CD-ROM drive and (a system for reproducing sound and image on computer ‘multimedia’);

Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 3009/95 of 22 December 1995 amending Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87^f4, gave effect from 1 January 1996 to the changes made to the Harmonized System nomenclature in the light of the Customs Cooperation Council's recommendation of 6 July 1993; whereas the changes made to the Harmonized System nomenclature include the introduction, in Chapter 84, of a new Note 5 (D) potentially affecting the classification of certain products that could serve as storage units for automatic data processing machines while performing one or more other functions at the same time;

Whereas, when applying Chapter Note 5 (E), it may prove difficult to distinguish between compact discs performing a specific function other than data processing and those designed to play CD-ROMs, audio CDs and photo CDs, which are nevertheless storage units by virtue of Note 5 (D);

Whereas, in the interests of the uniform application of the combined nomenclature, the scope of the term ‘optical disk storage units’ should be made clear; whereas an additional note should therefore be inserted in Chapter 84 of the combined nomenclature; whereas Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 should be amended accordingly;

Whereas this Regulation covers the products mentioned in items 2 and 3 of the table annexed to Regulation (EC) No 2564/95;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature Section of the Customs Code Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: