. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/L/420
4 December 2000
(00-5232)
REPORT (2000) 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), hereafterreferred to as the Ministerial Declaration, and the provisions for the Implementation of the MinisterialDeclaration on Trade in Information Technology Products (G/L/160), in order to carry out theprovisions of paragraphs 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the Annex to the Declaration.
2. The Committee has held four formal meetings in 2000:  on 21 March, 14 June, 3 October
1,
and 22 November.  The minutes of these meeti ngs are contained in documents G/IT/M/21 to
G/IT/M/242.  Mr. Y. Shiran (Israel) served as Chairman of the Committee until June 2000, when Ms.
E. Chellia h (Singapore) was elected Chai rwoman of the Committee for 2000.
3. During the past year, the Committee approved the draft schedules of commitments submitted
by Cyprus, Jordan, Oman, and Slovenia.  Thus, these countries became participants to the MinisterialDeclaration, bringing the total number of participants to fifty-five.  Membership in the Committee isopen to representatives of all participants.  The Committee's rules of procedure provide for observerstatus in the Committee for WTO Members which are not participants to the Ministerial Declarationand Governments that are observers to the Council for Trade in Goods.  Requests for observer statusby international intergovernmental organizations are considered on a case-by-case basis.  TheInternational Trade Centre (ITC) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) have been granted observer status; a nd the World Customs Organization (WCO) has been
granted observer status to meetings where the issues of HS classification and HS amendments areincluded in the agenda.
4. T he Committee addressed a number of issues during the year.  The Committee has regularly
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 forrectification and modification of their WTO schedules in order to incorporate the commitments arisingfrom the Ministerial Declaration and most had been certified by the Director-General.  It was  notedthat those participants that were not yet WTO Members were implementing the concessions on anautonomous basis.  A few participants were s till awaiting the completi on of domestic procedural
requirements or had not yet subm itted the n ecessary documentation.  Du ring the year some issues
were raised in the Committee concerning implementation problems for a few participants.
5. The Committee also consulted on non-tariff barriers relating to information technology
products.  The Australian delegation presented a proposal for a work-programme on non-tariff
measures and many others submitted "national experience" papers on the subject.  Deliberations on a
                                                     
1 One agenda item carried forward to 13 and 26 October 2000 when the meeting was resumed.
2 The minutes of the meeting of 22 November 2000, G/IT/M/24, are in the process of being issued.G/L/420
Page 2
non-tariff measures' work programme continued throughout the year, and on 26 October 2000 the
Committee agreed to a Non-Tariff Measures Work Programme on an ad referendum  basis, subject to
further consultations with capitals by 10 November 2000.  Since no comments were received by thisdate, the Work Progamme was deemed approved and issued as a formal document (G/IT/19).  TheCommittee has initiated work related to Phase I (an inventory of NTMs) of the Work Programme.
6.  The Committee also discussed classification divergences during the year.  Noting the
constructive work of the customs experts from their meeting in 1999, the Committee agreed to have
another such informal meeting so that the customs experts could continue their work on this matter.In June 2000, a second meeting was held, and the results circulated in document G/IT/14, for the
consideration of the Committee.  Work on classification divergences is continuing, with a further
informal meeting planned for 7-8 December 2000.  The Committee took note of the updated
documentation from the WCO concerning the classification of IT products .
7. The Chairperson regularly informed the Committee under "other business" that various
participants continued to consult amongst themselv es on review of product coverage.  She encouraged
delegations to continue consultations.
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