G/L/1510  
 
6 Novem ber 2023 
(23-7478) Page: 1/3 
   
 
  
REPORT (20 23) OF THE COMMITTEE OF PARTICIPANTS ON THE EXPANSION  
OF TRADE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS  
1.1.  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.  
1.2.  The Committee's rules of procedure provide for observer statu s to 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 Organi sation 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 on the agenda.  
1.3.  The Committee has held two  formal meetings and two  informal meetings in 2023. The 
Committee's formal meetings were held on 29  March and 19  October and their minutes are 
contained in documents  G/IT/M/78  and G/IT/M/791, respectively. The Committee also held 
two informal meetings , on 14  July and 18  September, on better  functioning of the Committee, and 
to review Timor -Leste's ITA  Schedules, respectively.  
1.4.  Taking into account that Mr  Hazrul Imran Azahar (Malaysia) (the ITA Committee 's Chairperson 
during  2022-2023) was temporarily unavailable due to a family emergency, Mr  LOH Jia Jie 
(Singapore) was elected interim Chairperson to chair the ITA  Committee's formal meeting on 
29 March only . On 7 June 2023, through a written procedure, the Committee elected by acclamation 
Mr Don Spedding (Australia)  as Chairperson  for the period of 2023 -2024.  
1.5.  As of 19  October, t he total number of WTO  Members that are participants to the Ministerial 
Declaration is 8 3. The Committee has consistently reviewed the status of implementation, a 
summary of which is provided in document  G/IT/1 and its revisions.  
1.6.  At the Committee's meeting of 29  March, China and the United Kingdom exchanged views on 
the United Kingdom's ITA  commitments.  
1.7.  Trade concerns over ITA  implementation in Indonesia and Egypt were raised at the 
Committee's meeting in March and reiterated at its meeting in October . 
1.8.  The Committee continued its deliberations on the Non -Tariff Measures (NTMs) Work 
Programme in 202 3. Regarding its work on the EMC/EMI  Pilot Project, Israel and Viet  Nam submitted 
information regarding their conf ormity assessment procedures on 18 January  2023 and 
24 May 2023, respectively. T he Committee note d that, among  current participants, 46 had provided 
survey responses . The consolidated list of conformity assessment procedures for EMC/EMI used by 
ITA Partici pants is updated in document  G/IT/W/17/Rev.30 . The Committee encouraged those that 
had not yet done so to provide th e information without any further delay.  
 
1 To be circulated.  G/L/1510  
 
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  1.9.  On classification divergences, with regard to the possible HS2007  classification for the 
remaining 22  "Attachment  B" items, the Secretariat had so far received comments from 
21 delegations, which were compiled in do cument  G/IT/W/40  and its Addenda and Su pplements. 
The Committee encouraged delegations that had not yet provided their comments to do so as soon 
as possible in order to arrive at a common classification for these products within the existing 
HS nomenclature. In addition,  one delegation requeste d the Secretariat to provide technical inputs 
regarding the 22  "Attachment  B" items in the context of the latest HS  nomenclature (HS  2022).  
1.10.  On product coverage, the Committee took note of the reports and updates from those 
participants that were engaged in the 2015  ITA Expansion ( WT/L/956  and WT/MIN(15)/25 ) and its 
implementation.  One delegation emphasized the importance of addressing non -tariff measures while 
exploring the possibility of further expanding product coverage.  
1.11.  In response to a request from the CTG  Chairperson to the Chairpersons of the CTG's 
subsidiary bodies concerning their respective Committee's current and future functioning, 
ITA Participants held dedicated discussions at the ITA  Committee's formal meeting held  on 
29 March. To facilitate further discussions on possible follow -up, the Secretariat prepared a 
consolidated table containing a list of possible improvements to the Committee's future functioning, 
contained in document  JOB/IT/33 , which was circulated on 3  July. Based on dedicated discussions 
at the Committee's informal meeting of 14  July, a communication from the C hairperson summarizing 
the current status of the Committee's work in this area was circulated in document  JOB/IT/35 , dated 
9 August. In his follow -up communication, circulated in document  JOB/IT/36 , dated 31  August, 
two meas ures for action were proposed by the Chairperson for the Committee's adoption through 
written procedures, which were approved on this basis on 12  September.2 In this connection, the 
Chairperson circulated a report, in document  G/IT/W/57 , which was subsequently approved and 
adopted by the Committee as its report to the CTG at the Committee's formal meeting of 
19 October .3 
1.12.  Regarding new participants, on 27  February  2023, the Mission of Timor -Leste sent a 
Note Verbale to the WTO  Director -General, expressing Timor -Leste's intention to join the ITA and 
ITA Expansion Agreements. At its formal meeting on 29  March, ITA  Participants expressed their 
welcome to Timor -Leste's participation, and their support for its efforts to join the ITA and 
ITA Expansion Agreements. Upon the request of Timor -Leste's authorities, the Secretariat organized 
a technical workshop on the ITA  Agreements, in Dili, from 12 -16 June, with a view to enhancing 
officials' understanding of the two  agreements and facilitating the preparation of Timor -Leste's draft 
Schedules. On 22  August, the authority officially submitted its ITA and ITA  Expansion Schedu les, 
which were subsequently circulated in documents  G/IT/32  and G/IT/33 . At the informal meeting 
held on 18  September, Timor -Leste's ITA  Schedule was reviewed. Most ITA  participants expressed 
their sa tisfaction with the submissions, with only a few technical issues being raised for additional 
clarification. At the formal meeting of 19  October, the Committee approved Timor -Leste's 
ITA Schedule by consensus. Timor -Leste's ITA  commitments will be incorpor ated into its Goods 
Schedule and form part of its final WTO  accession package. Timor -Leste will become a new 
participant to the ITA upon its WTO  accession. On the same day, the ITA  Expansion Group also 
approved Timor -Leste's ITA  Expansion Schedule , which w ill be incorporated into its Goods Schedule 
and be implemented upon its WTO  accession.  
1.13.  To improve WTO  Members' understanding of the ITA and ITA  Expansion Agreements, the 
Secretariat organized the very first Geneva -based Workshop on ITA and Digital Transformation, 
which ran from 14 to 17  March  2023. 30  government officials from 30  WTO developing Members 
and governments in the process of WTO  accession participated in the workshop. The Secretariat 
reported the event to the Committee at its March  meetin g, and ITA  Participants encouraged the 
Secretariat to organize similar activities in the future in order to advocate for the benefits of joining 
the ITA, as well as for ITA  Participants and non -participants to share their respective experiences in 
this are a. Also at the Committee's March meeting, the Secretariat made a presentation on recent 
trends in ICT  trade, for which ITA  Participants expressed their appreciation.  
1.14.  To strengthen its communication with the ICT industry, the Committee engaged in  an informa l 
dialogue with a number of IT  company and association representatives on 16  March in Geneva. 
Representatives from Cisco, Applied Materials, Japan Electronics and Information Industries 
 
2 The formal Committee decision was circulated in document  G/IT/34 . 
3 Document  G/L/1498-G/IT/ 35. G/L/1510  
 
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  Association (JEITA), the Consumer Technology Association ( CES), the Information Technology 
Industry Council (ITIC), Medtronic and the Semiconductor Industry Association ( SIA) introduced a 
number of products and applications using the latest ICT  technology in various aspects of  business, 
logistics, infrastructure and medical care,  and also shared the perspectives of their specific 
companies regarding the benefits of the ITA.  
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