Amoena v HMRC

In Amoena v HMRC [2015] EWCA Civ 25 (29 January 2015) the Court of Appeal found that a mastectomy bra was an article of clothing.

The issue was the correct customs duty treatment of a mastectomy bra – designed to be worn with an artificial breast by women who have undergone surgical removal of their breast. Amoena which imported the bra into the UK contended that it was either a ‘part of or accessory to a breast form’ or an orthopaedic appliance so that it carried no duty. HMRC argued that it was an article of clothing (Combined Nomenclature (CN) chap 62) subject to 6.5% duty.

Referring to the CJEU’s decisions in Unomedical (C-152/10) and in Turbon (C-250/05) the court found that the bra was not part of the breast form since it was not essential to its operation. The breast form could be...