REPORT (2014) OF THE COMMITTEE OF
PARTICIPANTS ON THE EXPANSION
OF TRADE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS
1. The Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in
Information Technology Products, hereinafter referred to as "the
Committee", was established pursuant to the provisions of the Ministerial
Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products (WT/MIN(96)/16),
hereinafter referred to as "the Ministerial Declaration", and the
provisions for the Implementation of the Ministerial Declaration on Trade in
Information Technology Products (G/L/160), in order to carry out the provisions
of paragraphs 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the Annex to the Declaration.
2. The Committee has held three formal meetings in 2014: on 17 March,
26 June, and 31 October. The minutes of these meetings are contained
in documents G/IT/M/59, G/IT/M/60, and G/IT/M/61. Mr Frederic Payot
(Switzerland)
was elected Chairman of the Committee for 2014.
3. The total number of participants to the Ministerial Declaration is 80.
Since the last report, Afghanistan
joined the ITA on 17 March 2014, and the Seychelles on 17 October 2014.
Both ITA commitments will be implemented upon accession to the WTO. The
Committee's rules of procedure provide for observer status in the Committee for
WTO Members that are not participants to the Ministerial Declaration, and
governments that are observers to the Council for Trade in Goods. Requests for
observer status by international intergovernmental organizations are considered
on a case‑by‑case basis. The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have been granted
observer status, and the World Customs Organization (WCO) has been granted
observer status to meetings where issues of HS classification and HS amendments
are included in the agenda.
4. The Committee continued its deliberations on the Non‑Tariff Measures
(NTMs) Work Programme in 2014. With regard to its work on the EMC/EMI Pilot
Project, the Committee took note that, among the 50 participants[1],
29 had provided survey responses and the Committee encouraged those that
had not yet done so to provide the information without any further delay. In
considering ways to advance and expand its work on NTMs other than EMC/EMI, the
Committee decided to hold an industry‑driven workshop further to discuss NTMs
in IT sectors. This workshop is scheduled on 7 May 2015.
5. On classification divergences, with regard to the Committee's
Decision (G/IT/27) concerning the endorsement of the 18 List I‑A items
(G/IT/W/34), the Secretariat has been approached by four ITA Participants
for technical assistance. For the 37 remaining items as listed in
Attachment B or as for Attachment B in section 2 of Attachment A,
the Committee discussed a Swiss proposal (JOB/IT/12) and adopted the
three steps procedure as outlined in the Swiss proposal.
6. The Committee has consistently reviewed the status of
implementation, a summary of which is provided in document G/IT/1 and its
revisions. The document noted that most participants had submitted the formal documentation
for rectification and modification of their WTO schedules in order to
incorporate the commitments arising from the Ministerial Declaration and most
had been certified by the Director‑General. One participant still had not yet
submitted the necessary documentation.
7. At the meetings of 17 March, 26 June, and 31 October 2014,
Participants reported on the bilateral and plurilateral technical consultations
initiated by some delegations on product expansion. They also agreed to revert to
this matter at future meetings.
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[1] This number excludes Afghanistan
and the Seychelles,
and counts the European Union as one.