ministerial declaration on trade in information technology products (information technology agreement – ita) and ministerial declaration
on the expansion of trade in information technology products

communication from the united kingdom

The following communication, dated 17 December 2020, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the United Kingdom.

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I have the honour to refer to the Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products to which the European Communities became a participant in Singapore on 13 December 1996 (WT/MIN(96)/16) (the "1996 ITA") and the Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products to which the European Communities became a participant in Nairobi on 16 December 2015 (WT/MIN(15)/25) (the "2015 ITA Expansion").

The United Kingdom ceased to be a Member State of the European Union at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020. The European Union and the United Kingdom agreed a Withdrawal Agreement pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, providing for a time-limited transition period during which European Union law, as modified by the Withdrawal Agreement, applies to and in the United Kingdom (the "transition period"). The transition period will end at 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020.

As a consequence of its withdrawal from the European Union, the United Kingdom has circulated for certification its own independent schedule of concessions and commitments to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, set out in Schedule XIX-United Kingdom (G/MA/TAR/RS/570) and its addenda. Schedule XIX-United Kingdom replicates all tariff liberalisation commitments with respect to the products listed in the Annexes of the 1996 ITA and the 2015 ITA Expansion as previously set out in the European Union Schedule CLXXV-European Union.

I have the honour to inform to you that, as such, the United Kingdom confirms its intention to continue to respect the provisions of the 1996 ITA and the 2015 ITA Expansion from the expiration of the transition period. The United Kingdom will continue to implement all tariff liberalisation commitments with respect to products annexed to both the 1996 ITA and the 2015 ITA Expansion, in its own right, and to participate in the Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products and the ITA Expansion Group.