42Lastly, regarding the Italian Governments argument to the effect that the Commission s action is unfounded because the disputed tax was introduced with the sole aim of protecting the environment, in the light of, inter alia, the requirements of the precautionary principle, the Court notes that charges having equivalent effect to customs duties are prohibited irrespective of the purpose for which they were introduced and the destination of the revenue from them (see Case C-72/03 Carbonati Apuani [2004] ECR I-8027, paragraph 31).
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