Multifunctional devices with mobile phone function are devices that, besides the mobile telephony function, also have features such as sending and receiving SMS/MMS messages and emails, sending and receiving positioning signals, PDA, capturing and reproducing sound and images, receiving radio or television signals, etc. Certain EU Member States have in the past expressed views that these devices, due to the multitude of additional features they comprise, should no longer be classified as telephones for cellular networks or other wireless networks (CN subheading 8517 12 00). This would lead to these type of devices no longer being able to benefit from the 0% import duty rate that currently exists for goods classified under subheading 8517 12 00.
The EU Customs Code Committee's Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature Section ("Nomenclature Section") has, however, decided not to follow these views and has abandoned its plans to classify these goods in a different subheading which would have raised the import duty on multifunctional devices with mobile phone function from 0% to 14%.
During its meeting at the beginning of July, the Nomenclature Section adopted, by qualified majority, new explanatory notes to CN subheading 8517 12 00 (http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:185:0001:0002:EN:PDF), as well as the European Commission Classification Regulation (EC) No 717/2009 (http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:205:0003:0006:EN:PDF) which takes into account the explanatory notes and classifies three types of multifunctional devices with mobile phone function under CN subheading 8517 12 00.
The explanatory notes allow for the classification of a multifunctional device as mobile phone, thus leading to the 0% import duty rate to be applicable. The reasoning given is that "irrespective of such additional features, the mobile phone telephony function is generally the principal function of mobile phones that meet all the above listed characteristics. This is the case, for example, when the telephony function takes precedence over all other functions including when incoming calls are normally notified to the user regardless of secondary functions used."
The adoption of these new explanatory notes and the classification regulation is useful in ensuring that multifunctional devices with mobile phone function are classified under CN subheading 8517 12 00 and are thus not subject to any import duties when entering the territory of the EU. Future issues regarding the correct classification of these types of devices are, however, not out of the question since both the explanatory notes as well as the Classification Regulation set out certain limitations on the goods that can be classified as a mobile phone.
