On 9 June 2009, the Official Journal published two Commission Regulations concerning the classification in the EU's Combined Nomenclature of products that are likely to be of interest to Hong Kong traders of electronic goods. One of the Regulations concerns two products which are used to make plasma monitors, while the other concerns a system of components including a television camera for underwater operations involving the capture of images.

Regulation 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff established the "Combined Nomenclature" (CN), which is the EU's coding system for classifying products for customs and statistical purposes. This classification is based on the Harmonized System and supplements it with its own subdivisions referred to as "CN subheadings". The Commission regularly adopts classification measures, such as those set out in the Regulations published on 9 June 2009, to ensure that the CN is being uniformly applied throughout the EU.

The first two products, classified in Commission Regulation 477/2009, are rectangular plates of semi-tempered glass upon which several anti-reflective and absorbent layers of plastic are bonded. The products are used in the manufacture of plasma monitors. One of the plates referred to in the Regulation is not framed, while the other is framed with a metal band. The non-framed plate is to be classified under CN code 9001 90 00, while the framed plate is to be classified under CN code 9002 20 00.

The classification codes have been decided on as the layers of plastic give the product the characteristics of an optical element. Classification under heading 7007 as safety glass, consisting of toughened (tempered) or laminated glass, was excluded.

For the non-framed plate, heading 9001 was used as it covers unmounted optical elements of plastics, whether or not optically worked. The non-framed plate is therefore to be classified under CN code 9001 90 00 as other optical elements.

On the other hand, mounted optical elements of plastics are covered by heading 9002, whether or not optically worked. The framed plate is therefore to be classified under CN code 9002 20 00 as an optical filter.

A full description of the products can be found at:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:144:0015:0016:EN:PDF

The other product, which has been classified in Commission Regulation 476/2009, is a television camera system which consists of the following components: 

• a high resolution television camera mounted onto a submersible vehicle (a so-called ‘remote operated vehicle') weighing approximately 3.6kg;
• a control device incorporating a display for the remote control of the vehicle and of the camera, for example by means of a joystick, and the visualisation of the images captured by the camera; and
• an electric cable.

The system is used for underwater operations involving the capture of images and their transfer by cable to a display on the control device. The camera can function up to a depth of approximately 90 metres. The product is to be classified under CN code 8525 80 19. Classification is determined, amongst others, by the consideration that the essential character of the component, consisting of a television camera mounted onto a submersible vehicle, is provided by the camera and not by the vehicle. It is considered that the vehicle is merely there to transport the camera over a limited distance. Accordingly, the component containing the television camera and the submersible vehicle is still to be classified, if presented separately, as a television camera, under CN code 8525 80 19.

If presented together, the components will still be classified under CN code 8525 80 19, as a television camera, as the individual components are interconnected and the system consists of individual components intended to contribute together to a clearly defined function, covered by one of the headings in Chapter 84 or 85. As the function of the system is to capture images without storing them, it has been decided that the whole system is to be classified under CN code 8525 80 19 as a television camera.

A full description of the product concerned can be found at:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:144:0013:0014:EN:PDF