WORLD TRADE G/L/160
2April 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1356)
Council forTrade inGoods
IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE MINISTERIAL DECLARATION ON
TRADE ININFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS
Thefollowing communication wassenton26March 1997 totheChairman oftheCouncil
forTrade inGoods witharequest thatitbecirculated toallMembers.
__________________
Thefollowing Members oftheWorld Trade Organization (“WTO ”)andStates orseparate
customs territories intheprocess ofacceding totheWTO:
Australia Macau
Canada Malaysia
Czech Republic NewZealand
Costa Rica Norway
Estonia Romania
European Communities Separate Customs Territory ofTaiwan,
Hong Kong Penghu, Kinmen andMatsu
Iceland Singapore
India Slovak Republic
Indonesia Switzerland1
Israel Thailand
Japan Turkey
Korea United States
(hereinafter referred toas"participants")2,having beenparties totheMinisterial Declaration onTrade
inInformation Technology Products3(hereinafter referred toas"Declaration"), orhaving agreed, in
theperiod since theDeclaration wascirculated, toparticipate intheexpansion ofworld trade in
1Onbehalf ofthecustoms union Switzerland andLiechtenstein.
2Participants tooknotethatPanama andPoland submitted documents after 1March 1997 thatcould notbereviewed
by26March 1997andthatothers maysubmit documents onorbefore 1April 1997. Participants agreed tomeetagain during
theweek of14April 1997 tocomplete thereview process withrespect tothese documents. Itwasunderstood that,upon
approval ofthese documents, theprocedures setforth intheAnnex totheDeclaration would apply asifthedocuments had
been approved atthemeeting of26March 1997, andtheStates orseparate customs territories referred toabove would
thenceforth beconsidered tobe"participants" forpurposes ofthefurther implementation oftheDeclaration.
3WT/MIN(96)/16, 13December 1996 (attached).G/L/160
Page2
information technology products according tothemodalities setforth intheDeclaration, meton
26March 19974,tookthedecisions described below, asprovided forintheAnnex totheDeclaration,
andestablished theelements described below, concerning thefurther implementation oftheDeclaration,
asreflected below.
Agreement onActions foreseen intheDeclaration
1. Theparticipants accepted5theresults ofthereview process described inparagraph 2ofthe
Annex totheDeclaration, asreflected inthedocuments attached hereto, which were submitted by
participants andhavebeenreviewed andapproved onaconsensus basis.
2. Theparticipantsagreedthatthecriteriaestablishedinparagraph4oftheAnnextotheDeclaration
havebeenmet,andtherefore, thatparticipants shallimplement5theactions foreseen intheDeclaration.
Establishment oftheCommittee ofParticipants
3. Inorder tocarry outtheprovisions ofparagraphs 3,5,6and7oftheAnnex totheDeclaration,
theparticipants established aCommittee ofParticipants ontheExpansion ofTrade inInformation
Technology Products (hereinafter referred toas"Committee"). TheCommittee shall oversee the
functioning ofthese elements andshallserve astheforum formeetings required under itsprocedures
andcollective consultations among theparticipants. Alldecisions oftheCommittee shallbetaken
byconsensus.
4. Membership intheCommittee shall beopen torepresentatives ofallparticipants. The
Committee shallelectachairperson fromamong therepresentatives oftheparticipants orasotherwise
decided. TheCommittee maydecide toinvite, asappropriate, representatives ofWTO Members and
ofobservers totheCouncil forTrade inGoods thatarenotparticipants asof26March 1997toattend
meetings oftheCommittee asobservers.
5. Theparticipants agreed thatanyWTO Member, orStateorseparate customs territory inthe
process ofacceding totheWTO, thatisnotaparticipant asof26March 1997, andthatnotifies the
Committee ofitsinterest inbinding andeliminating customs duties, andother duties andcharges, on
theimportation ofinformation technology products intoitsterritory pursuant tothese elements, may
become aparticipant onterms tobeagreed between itandtheparticipants atthattime. Unless otherwise
agreed, suchWTO Member, orseparate customs territory intheprocess ofacceding totheWTO,
shall,onthedatethatitbecomesaparticipant,makeeffectiveallratereductionsitwouldhaveundertaken
haditbeenaparticipant asof26March 1997.
6. Theparticipants agreed thattheCommittee shallholdregular meetings toreview developments
related totheimplementation oftheDeclaration, andshallholdspecial meetings attherequest ofany
participant orasotherwise necessary byinvitation ofthechairperson. Thefirstregular meeting ofthe
Committee shallbeheldnolaterthan30September 1997. TheCommittee shallconsider atthatmeeting
theschedule offuture regular meetings, taking account ofthemeetings provided forinparagraph 7
below.
4TheWTO Secretariat shall maintain asetoftheinformal documents exchanged byparticipants inconsultations that
ledtothedecisions taken atthatmeeting. These documents shall bemade available toparticipants forconsultation upon
request.
5Subject tothecompletion ofdomestic procedural requirements.G/L/160
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Process forMonitoring Implementation andConsultations onandReview ofProduct Coverage
7. Theparticipantsagreedthat,inconductingtheconsultationsandreviewdescribedinparagraph3
oftheAnnex totheDeclaration6,theCommittee mayalsotakeintoaccount changes inpatterns in
tradeininformation technology products. Theparticipants expressed theirintent toconduct theinitial
review andanyconsultations pursuant toparagraph 3oftheAnnex totheDeclaration according to
theprocedures attached hereto.
8. Theparticipants alsoagreed that,inconducting theconsultations described inparagraph 5of
theAnnex totheDeclaration,7theCommittee mayconsider product classification divergences with
aviewtoensuring thattheactions foreseen intheDeclaration areimplemented inacoherent fashion
byallparticipants.
GATT 1994 Article XXVIII
9. Theparticipants agreed thatanyparticipant thatisaWTO Member having recourse tothe
provisions ofArticle XXVIII oftheGATT 1994withrespect tothepossible modification orwithdrawal
ofaconcession included initsWTO schedule oftariff concessions, asmodified pursuant tothese
procedures, shallsonotify theother participants atthetimethatitnotifies theDirector-General of
theWTO. Upon therequest ofanyparticipant, theCommittee shallconvene ameeting within thirty
daysofthecirculation ofthenotification toconsider thepotential impact oftheproposed modification
orwithdrawal oftheconcession onthetrade ofother participants ininformation technology products.
Such deliberations shallbewithout prejudice torights andobligations under theWTO Agreement.
10. Theparticipants agreed that,inlightofthetechnical specificity ofinformation technology
products, participants maywishtoconsider, inthecourse ofthereview provided forinparagraph 3
oftheAnnex totheDeclaration, additional procedures toaddress theconcerns ofsmall- andmedium-
sizedexporting participants regarding theirrights under Article XXVIII, bearing inmind thatareview
willbeconducted bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods fiveyears from thedateofentry intoforce of
theWTO Agreement pursuant toparagraph 1oftheUnderstanding ontheInterpretation of
Article XXVIII oftheGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade 1994.
6Thetextofparagraph 3isasfollows: "Participants shall meet periodically under theauspices oftheCouncil onTrade
inGoods toreview theproduct coverage specified intheAttachments, with aview toagreeing, byconsensus, whether in
thelight oftechnological developments, experience inapplying thetariff concessions, orchanges totheHSnomenclature,
theAttachmentsshouldbemodifiedtoincorporateadditionalproducts,andtoconsultonnon-tariffbarrierstotradeininformation
technology products. Such consultations shall bewithout prejudice torights andobligations under theWTO Agreement."
7Thetextofparagraph 5isasfollows: "Participants shallmeetasoften asnecessary andnolaterthan30September 1997
toconsider anydivergence among theminclassifying information technology products, beginning withtheproducts specified
inAttachment B.Participants agree onthecommon objective ofachieving, where appropriate, acommon classification
forthese products within existing HSnomenclature, giving consideration tointerpretations andrulings oftheCustoms
Co-operation Council (also known astheWorld Customs Organization or"WCO"). Inanyinstance inwhich adivergence
inclassification remains, participants willconsider whether ajointsuggestion could bemade totheWCO withregard to
updating existing HSnomenclature orresolving divergence ininterpretation oftheHSnomenclature."G/L/160
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Incorporation oftheAnnex totheDeclaration
11. Theparticipants agreed thatthemodalities setforthintheAnnex totheDeclaration, including
theAttachments tothatAnnex, areanintegral partofthese elements.
Attachments:
A. Ministerial Declaration onTrade inInformation Technology Products, WT/MIN(96)/16,
13December 1996.
B. Approved Schedules ofParticipants.8
8Available forconsultation byparticipants andWTO Members intheWTO Secretariat (Market Access Division).G/L/160
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PROCEDURES FOR CONSULTATIONS ONAND
REVIEW OFPRODUCT COVERAGE
Pursuant toparagraph 7above, itistheintention oftheparticipants toconduct theinitial review and
anyconsultations pursuant toparagraph 3oftheAnnex totheDeclaration according tothefollowing
schedule:
(a) Beginning1October1997andnolaterthan31December1997,participantsmaysubmit
totheCommittee listsofadditional information technology products forpossible
additional tariffconcessions, including supporting technical documentation tofacilitate
consideration bytheCommittee, taking intoaccount paragraph 5oftheAnnex tothe
Declaration regarding classification issues. Such listsshall becirculated toall
participants.
(b) Beginning 1January 1998 andnolaterthan31March 1998, participants thathave
submittedthedocumentationdescribedinparagraph(a)aboveshallconsultuponrequest
with interested participants toclarify information andexchange views onthe
documentation submitted, including technical specifications oftheproducts covered
insuchdocumentation.
(c) Nolaterthan30June1998, theCommittee shallmeet todecide whether torevise
Attachment AorBtotheAnnex totheDeclaration, andifso,toestablish arevised
listofproducts withrespect towhich participants would bindandeliminate customs
duties andother duties andcharges. Such listwould replace Attachment AorB.
(d) IftheCommittee decides toestablish arevised listpursuant toparagraph (c),theneach
participant shallsubmit nolaterthan1September 1998 adocument similar tothat
required under paragraph 2oftheAnnex totheDeclaration.
(e) TheCommittee shallmeet nolaterthan15September 1998 toconduct areview of
these documents inamanner similar tothatconducted pursuant toparagraph 2ofthe
Annex totheDeclaration, andshallconclude itsreview nolaterthan30September
1998. Atthatmeeting participants shallalsoconsider thepossibility andprocedures
forfurther reviews.
(f) Upon successful completion oftheCommittee review, theparticipants shallsubmit
totheSecretariat thedocuments incorporating theresults ofthereview asproposed
modifications totheirWTO Schedules oftariff concessions, pursuant totheDecision
of26March 1980 onProcedures forModification andRectification ofSchedules of
Tariff Concessions (BISD, 27S/25), withaviewtotheentry intoforce oftherevised
Schedules, andincorporation intheirdomestic tariffschedules, nolaterthan1January
1999 bearing inmind theneedofeachparticipant tofulfil itsdomestic procedural
requirements. Eachparticipant thatisnotaMember oftheWTO shallimplement these
measures onanautonomous basis, pending completion ofitsWTO accession, andshall
incorporate these measures intoitsWTO schedule ongoods.