Judgment_paragraph 18 · A. C. Smits-Koolhoven v Staatssecretaris van Financiën (C-495/04)

18Against that background, attention should be drawn to the fact that the first subparagraph of Article 7(2) of Directive 95/59 seeks to lay down the general rule that products which, although consisting in whole or in part of substances other than tobacco, nevertheless conform to the other criteria for cigarettes and smoking tobacco set out in Article 4 or Article 5 of that directive are to be treated as cigarettes and smoking tobacco. In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 7(2) of the same directive, the only products which are not covered by that rule are those which, firstly, do not contain tobacco and, secondly, are ‘used exclusively for medical purposes’. Consequently, that subparagraph distinguishes between two kinds of products not containing tobacco, depending on whether they are used for such purposes or not, and only the first kind is covered by the derogation.

A. C. Smits-Koolhoven v Staatssecretaris van Financiën (C-495/04)

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