MOSCOW, September 15 (RAPSI) – The 9th Commercial Court of Appeals is to review on October 27 complaint lodged by Apple Rus, Apple’s subsidiary in the country, seeking to dismiss a decision of the Central Directorate of the Federal Customs Service (FCS) with regard to classification of Apple Watch products the company imports to Russia, the court records read on Thursday.

On June 21, the Moscow Commercial Court dismissed the plaintiff’s claim seeking to overturn preliminary FSC decision to classify watchbands of Apple “smart” watches as a separate imported commodity.

According to Apple Rus lawyers watchbands should be classified under the same Customs Commodity code as Apple Watches, since they were not a separate item, but a watch component; however, FCS insisted that watchbands were not functional components of the core devices and therefore should be classified under a code most appropriate for such merchandise.

The court supported FCS decision having found out that the respective Customs Commodity code covered all kinds of bands and wristlets designed to bear watches on wrists.       

On May 17, the Moscow Commercial Court dismissed the Apple Rus claim against another FCS decision of November 13, 2015, with regard to the classification of “smart” Apple Watch products not as data transmitting devices exempt from duties, but as ordinary watches subject to import duties at up to 10%. The company took the appeal to a higher court, but lost its claim, as the court of appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling.