EU:INK CATRIDGES ARE NOW OFFICIALLY INK

[Anonymous]

EU:Ink cartridges are now officially ink
May 2007In a landmark judicial ruling, the European Court of Justice has finally declared that printer ink-jet cartridges are a form of ink.
The decision overturns an earlier ruling from another authority that they weren’t ink, they were printer parts.The case was brought to resolve the issue of whether ink-jet cartridges were subject to import duty. Now that ink cartridges are officially ink, importers must pay a 6.5% tariff – whereas previously, when the VAT and Duties Tribunal decided they were parts, they were exempt.

Epson Telford Ltd, importers of the printers, had argued that the cartridges were an essential to the printer, which could not operate without them being in place, and that therefore they were parts. But the judge concluded that ‘the purpose of the cartridge is to provide the ink,’ and therefore they were ink.Mr Justice Henderson said in his decision: ‘This may sound like a statement of the blindingly obvious.’However, he added, ‘but in my judgment it is important in an area as technical as this not to lose sight of the wood for the trees, and not to be distracted by technical features and refinements.’

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May 7, 2007 at 11:07 AM