BFH puts silver-amalgam dental capsules under precious-metal amalgam

Single-dose capsules combining alloy powder with liquid mercury to make silver-amalgam dental fillings stay in the amalgam headingBundesfinanzhof even though presented as dental fillings. In five orders of 25 August 2026 — lead VII R 3/26 (formerly VII R 27/22, on Finanzgericht Hamburg 4 K 139/18) plus VII R 4/26, VII R 5/26, VII R 6/26 and VII R 7/26 (on 4 K 140/18, 4 K 141/18, 4 K 142/18 and 4 K 143/18) — the VII Senate of the Bundesfinanzhof rejected the importer's revisions, upheld the binding tariff information of 5 November 2015 in the form of the objection decision of 8 November 2018, and classified the goods in subheading 2843 90 10 of the Combined Nomenclature (KN) as "Amalgame"Bundesfinanzhof rather than 3006 40 00 dental filling materialBundesfinanzhof, with costs on the claimant in each case.

Each capsule held alloy powder in one chamber and liquid mercury in a second, physically separate but inseparable without destroying the capsule, in the dose for one filling and mixed on a device directly before use. The importer sought 3006 40 00; the Hauptzollamt applied 2843 90 10, which carries 5.3% duty against zero under the dental-fillings subheading. The decisive KN version is the one amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1101/2014Bundesfinanzhof, in force since 1 January 2015; classification turns on objective characteristics and heading and note wording, with Harmonized System and CN explanations only interpretive aids.

The capsule is a set classified by the product made on mixingBundesfinanzhof. Note 3 to Section VI is a special rule with its own conditions, taking precedence over General Rule 3(b). The General Court's judgment of 25 February 2026 (T-69/25, on the Senate's 12 November 2024 referral) settled this for exactly these capsules: physical separation suffices; one Section VI constituent (the mercury under heading 2805) suffices despite the German plural "einige"; presented together means simultaneous customs presentation; and the single-filling dosage shows complementarity.

The resulting product, not the unmixed components or the dental-use presentation, then decides. Mixed silver amalgam is a precious-metal amalgam under heading 2843 by General Rule 1Bundesfinanzhof, and by General Rule 6 under subheading 2843 90 10Bundesfinanzhof. Heading 3006 loses through the express collision rule of Note 1(B) to Section VIBundesfinanzhof: goods matching heading 2843 stay there even where other same-section headings — and 3006 is also in Section VI — could apply. Note 2 to Section VI, channelling dosed or retail-presented goods toward 3006, is expressly subject to Note 1.

Chapter 30 Note 4(f) does not reverse thisBundesfinanzhof. It positively assigns dental fillings to heading 3006 but in no language version claims precedence over the special Note 1(B) rule; it defines 3006's scope without displacing an expressly ordered collision rule. The remaining authorities miss the point: Regulation (EU) 2022/556 covered different non-amalgam goods without addressing Note 1(B); Hamburg 4 K 196/11 on etching gel decided a different question; the HS explanations presuppose the end-product heading; and use has no general priority over material. General Rules 3(a) and 3(c) never arise because General Rule 1 with the notes already resolves the competition. No renewed Luxembourg reference was needed: the set question was answered and the collision is unequivocally settled.

Importers and advisers handling such amalgam capsule kits should apply subheading 2843 90 10Bundesfinanzhof and stop relying on Chapter 30 Note 4(f) or retail-packaging arguments.

The result follows from Notes 1(B), 2 and 3 to Section VI and Note 4(f) to Chapter 30 of the KN with General Rules 1 and 6, read with the General Court judgment of 25 February 2026 (T-69/25) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1101/2014Bundesfinanzhof.