European Commission To Raise Camera Costs in Europe

An anonymous reader writes "According to a recent CNET article, digital camera costs could increase in Europe as result of trade inequalities. 'At the moment, all digital cameras are manufactured outside Europe. They're all imported. All of them. Currently, there's a European Commission-imposed 4.9 per cent import tariff on camcorders, but not on cameras, whatever their video-recording abilities. The EC's Nomenclature Committee has cottoned on to this and wants to slap a tax on cameras that can record at least 30 minutes of video in one go, with a resolution of 800x600 pixels or higher at 23 frames per second or higher. The Nomenclature Committee has recommended the proposal but has not, as yet, garnered the required majority vote.'" Update: 07/23 02:18 GMT by Z : Took out a bit of hyperbole.

Re:Phones?

[networkBoy]

Same issue when boarding an airplane.
My video camera is subject to inspection, but my camera is not, even though it can record every bit as well as the "video" camera, which incidentally can record stills too.
-nB

Tax overhaul time?

[Iphtashu Fitz]

It seems to me that with the constant growth & change of the high-tech marketplace the stuffed shirts responsible for levying taxes are going to have to significantly overhaul how taxes are levied in the not-too-distant future. The way this tax appears to be defined it could apply to devices that are not primarily cameras. Mobile phones are close to fitting into this definition. You can also buy binoculars capable of recording to digital media. A similar problem thats already rearing its ugly head is the recent decision by Canada to levy an "ipod tax" on mp3 players. They're already collecting taxes on the sale of music, so this in effect is taxing the end user twice. I'd be willing to bet that somebody in Canada will sue over that soon. Imagine if Canada implemented this digital camera tax and then in a few years ipods started showing up with built-in cameras... You'll end up with devices that are heavily taxed under a slew of "digital rights" taxes.

eBay

[42Penguins]

How would eBay and other online stores fit into this little plan? I know that most online purchases here in the US aren't taxed, but how about the good old EU?

Re:The world's going to end over a 4.9% tax?

[timmarhy]

so what, $25 is $25. Why should anyone pay this to keep someone else in business?

Re:Phones?

[parasonic]

And to blur the line a little more, how about importing 10000 units of a camera that can only do stills but has a 10MP sensor, a killer image processor, and plenty of extra buffers to do "more" with? Just get the manufacturer to agree to help you with a custom firmware before you place the order, import the suckers, and flash them. Hey, they weren't capable of video when they were imported, now were they?

Re:Go the protectionism

[drsquare]

We'll end protectionism when China has the same labour laws and environmental standards as the West. Why should Chinese companies get to produce things for lower prices because they just dump all their chemicals in the local river that the peasants have to drink out of?

Their living conditions are a choice

[daBass]

America's wealth and living standards did not come from selling their wares as cheap as possible to other countries. Instead, they stem from America being a natural resource rich country and efficiently turning those resources into products that people like. Getting ever more efficient at this cycle is called "economic growth". (i.e.: when you only need half the amount of people to make the same amount of stuff, the other half can move on to making other stuff)

That is how you are supposed to sustainably industrialize. Buying manufacturing knowledge and equipment on credit from more advanced nations and then operating them by virtual slaves who will do anything just to stay alive, is not.

China, as vast as it is, has those resources too; it doesn't need anyone else. In isolation, they too can become as prosperous as any "western" country if they put their minds to it and are patient.

Re:Go the protectionism

[Yokaze]

> That's reality. Anything else is fiction and ignores how the global economy works.

No. That is the world according the 18th century theory of Adam Smith, which is partly true, but hardly the whole of the story.

Selective protectionism and its reduction after the build-up of a competitive industry with high value products was/is key to the success of large parts of Taiwan, ROK and China.

That, of course, doesn't mean that I support the tariff, because who, but nationalists, cares, that the EU doesn't produce digital cameras, when the EU already is a region with high grade products and has a stable trade surplus.

This only seems to target HDTV cameras anyway...

[NimbleSquirrel]

Apparently they are only looking at going after cameras with HD capability, and the majority of home users won't be affected by this.

The key this the 800x600 resolution. Since all the SDTV and standard DV video formats fit within this resoultion.

NTSC:720x468 (It is actually 720x525, but only 468 lines carry image data, the rest are sync or are unseen. NTSC isn't used in Europe anyway.)
PAL:720x576 (again the actual resolution is 720x625, but only 576 lines are visible)
SECAM:720x576 (same as PAL)

Interestingly, SECAM was developed by the French as a political statement (rather than on technical merit) to protect local manufacturers, since it was so incompatible with everything else. It was only later that another standard was developed, MESECAM, to try to make it more compatible with PAL, but that is getting away from the original subject.

I'm not exactly sure how the EU came up with 800x600, but it seems that most home camcorders would be exempt from the tarrif on this basis. Instead it seems to be solely focussed on HD cmeras, perhaps as a means for preventing people from importing cheap HD cameras and making commercial content with them. I'd say the only people really affected by this are the budding filmmakers, where cheap HD consumer cameras are a good alternative to either film or extremely expensive betacam setups. Of course the manufacturers will feel the pinch too, since these tarrifs will help to discourage the consumer adoption of HDTV camcorders.

Re:Why should Europeans

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

>I can show documentation that shows that you could change Nazi Germany for China and Jews for women, and find China to be far worse in every possible way.

Go on.