The Gazette 1975

such discrimination exists is predicted. In practice

the latter articles of the Treaty prescribe in detail how-

discrimination is to i:e avoided. !\

o eases linvc in

fact been brought under this ar icle alone. It must

therefore he doubtful whether his article can be used

in the absence of any more detailed provision in the

Treat)- as a basis for an action.

Free Movement of Goods — Abolition of Customs

Duties

in the original six Members of the Community,

Customs Duties between the rcspcc'ivc members have

been abolished, and while the position with regard to

the three new members is that there is a progressive

reduction of these duties 'aking place over the period

of the transition period, complete abolition will not

'ake place until 1978. Accordingly the cases wInch I

mention now are not of immediate direct applicability

but they arc examples of the operation of 'he system.

In three c a s e s -Ca se 24/1968. The Commission v The

Italian Republic, case 8/70, again The Commission v

The Italian Republic, and Case 34/73, The Variola

Case, the Court of Justice has held successively that

statistical duties, administrative duties and disembark-

ation charges which arc imposed on goods which have

been the subject of some customs chocking at the point

of entry to 'he particular country arc void because ttiey

are considered to be customs duties under another

guise. A similar decision was reached in the Rove Case,

Case No. 39/1973 where I-Iygicnc Control Tax imposed

by the Chamber of Agricul urc in a German province

was held to be a charge having equivalent effect to a

customs duty.

A common Customs Tariff hrs been established w ith-

in the Community and the cases arising on this have

largely been of a technical na ure. The points at issue

normally have been whether the goods in question fall

into one or other category in the classification, which is

known as the Brussels Nomenclature. The Bakels Case

No. 14/1970, dealt with a baking emulsifier called

Voltcm. The ques'ion at issue was whether the

product should be regarded as a chemical or as a food

preparation. The importance of :he decision is not so

much which category the product fell into but the

holding by the Court that explanatory notes and tar-

iff notices prescribed in the Brussels Nomenclature arc

to be regarded as an authoritative source of informa-

tion for interpreting the tariff headings under the ap-

propriate E.E.C. Regulations No. 950/1968, and that

Member States arc not permitted to make provisions

affecting the scopc of that regulaffon. Those of us|who

ever defended prosecutions for inadequate milk fat

content In Milk will be interes'edto note that milk fait

has in fact reached the Court of Justice, in Case 49/73,

The Fleischer Case, where the Court had to decide

whether a product which had too high a milk fat con-

tent could be classified as bulk caramel.

Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions

Articles 30 and 31 of the Treaty provide for the

prohibition of quantita'ivc restrictions on imports and

a restriction on the introduction of new quantitative

restriciions. Most of the eases arose early in tin-

period of operation of the Trca'y. It may thcrefoiv

be that after 1978 there will he a similar number of

cases allccling the new members. Of the more re-

cent cases the Salgoil Cases heard before the European

Court as Case 13/1968 end before the Court of Appeal

in Rome as Salgoil v The Ministry for Foreign Trade

decided thr.t articles 31 and 32 were directly effective

and could be relied on by individuals before their

National Courts and that the Legal nature of a Com-

munity rule could not be altered by the particular

features of the National Law of a Member State. The

I'.alian Foreign Trade Ministry had argued that the

Rome Court of Appeal could not ask the Court to as-

certain the extent of judicial protection recorded to

private individuals under the treaty because this was

a question of interpretation of Italian Internal Law.

Restriction on Export Taxes

The European Court has on three occasions had to

consider the effcet of an Italian Law of 1939 which im-

posed a tax on he export of objects of artistic, his-

torical, archaeological or ethnographic interest. The first

case, The Commission v Italy, Export Tax on Art

Treasures No. 7/68 (1969) C.M.L.R. 1, the Court

held that the provisions of Articlc 36 of the Treaty

which permitted prohibitions or restrictions on the ex-

port of goods justified on the grounds of the protection

of National Treasures did no' justify the charging of

an export tax. In the second case, Di Porro v The

Italian Minister for Education, Case 18/1971 (1972)

C.M.L.R. 4, The Court held on a reference from a Turin

Court that Article 16 of 'he Treaty which required

the abolition of Customs Duies on exports between

Member States was then immediately applicable and

conferred a subjective right on a citizen against the

Italian S'ate which the Italian State should enforce.

The third case, Export Tax and Art Treasures No.

The Commission v Italy, Case 48/1971 (1972) C.M.L.R.

699, the Court held on an application from the Com-

mission t h ft Paly had infringed Article 171 of the

Treaty by failing to comply with a judgment of the

Court.

On the other hand a German Court has held in a

case called "The Special Turnover Tax Case" (1973)

C.M.L.R. 687, that this special tax imposed on all

exports and intended not to be a revenue measure

but c. means of economic control is a violation of Art-

icle 12 of the Treaty in so far as it applies to exports

to other Member States but is not prohibited by the

Treaty as regards exports to non Member Sta'es.

Agriculture

The area of agriculture is of course one of the most

important in the Community and one in which the

most complex measures have been introduced by the

Community in i\n attempt to Tegulate the agricultural

market in accordance with the terms of the Treaty.

There is a vast amount of legislation in the agricultural

?rea and it is far from surprising that a great many

cases have arisen. The Community has adop'ed a num-

ber of different measures aimed at implementing the