G/IT/28  
12 May 2015  
(15-2491)  Page: 1/2  
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products    
  
WORKSHOP ON NON-TARIFF BARRIERS AFFECTING TRADE IN ICT PRODUCTS 
7 MAY 2015 
FACTUAL REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN
1 UNDER HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY 
At its meeting of 14 October 2013, the ITA Committee agreed on the Swiss proposal to organize 
an industry-driven workshop dedicated to NTBs affecting trade in ICT products. The Workshop on 
Non-Tariff Barriers Affecting Trade in ICT Products  took place on Thursday, 7th May 2015 at Centre 
William Rappard, WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. 
 The objective of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for the private sector: (1) to share 
their experience with the trade policy makers on non-tariff barriers (NTBs) affecting trade in 
ICT products; and (2) to express their views on po ssible approaches to address NTBs in order to 
facilitate market access for ICT products. 
 
Fifteen speakers participated in the workshop. The set of speakers was well balanced in terms of geographical distribution and in terms of status of country of origin. Most of the speakers were 
from the private sector. One speaker represented the WTO Secretariat. 
 
The workshop was structured in 4 sessions. Session I provided a broad overview of the regulatory measures that affect trade in ICT products. Session II has focused on standards and conformity 
assessment schemes. In Session III, participants exposed specific solutions to diminish the 
negative impact of NTBs on trade in ICT products. Session IV provided an opportunity for the private sector to make further recommendations on how to deal with some of the NTBs expressed 
in previous sessions.
2 I describe those recommendations in the next section of the report. 
 Joint messages and concrete recomm endations by the ICT industry 
 
Throughout the workshop, speakers made clear how trade restrictive NTBs can be in the ICT 
sector. We have repeatedly heard from them that the lack of harmonization around globally used standards, for both administrative and technical regulations, creates many barriers to trade by 
significantly increasing the costs of compliance (e.g. duplication of testing and certification 
procedures) and by delaying market entry. The industry has been unanimous about these problems. Concrete recommendations have been ma de accordingly around the following principle: 
 
For each area of certification (for example, electromagnetic compatibility, safety, telecom approvals, radio emissi on, and energy efficiency): one global 
product, one global standard, one global test, one global certificate. 
 
a. Transparency 
 
The establishment of a centralized database of administrative requirements (e.g. conformity 
assessment procedures) and technical requirements (e .g. standards) per area of certification (e.g. 
EMC, safety, radio, environment) per product and per country to solve the lack of transparency 
                                               
1 Mr. Frédéric Payot, Chairman of the Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products, served  as facilitator during the Workshop. 
2 All presentations are accessible on the official website of the workshop 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/infte c_e/workshopmay15_e/workshopmay15_e.htm  G/IT/28 
 
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  that characterizes the complexity of national technical and administrative requirements. Such a 
database should be evolutionary to reflect the constant evolution of technical requirements. 
 
b. Conformity assessment procedures 
 
1. In the area of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), global recognition of the Supplier’s 
Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) to avoid the duplication of conformity assessment procedures.  
2. In the area of safety of electrical and elec tronic components, equipment and products, the 
consideration of the IECEE-CB scheme as a basis to define a globally recognized standard with respect to test results.  
 
c. E-labelling 
 Adopt the principle of e-labelling as a simple and efficient solution to the costly problem of the 
proliferation of marking requirements. Many countries have already endorsed e-labeling. 
 d. Others 
 
1. Harmonize practices in the field of energy efficiency requirements. 
2. Encourage global cooperation to avoid forced localization measures. 
 
The elimination of NTBs in general and the application of those recommendations would 
particularly benefit SMEs in developing countries. All speakers recognized this fact, in particular those from developing countries. All speakers from  developing countries advocated for more trade 
liberalization in the ICT sector. 
 Finally, in accordance to many interventions during the workshop, I encourage trade policy makers 
to work in close collaboration with the private sector and the regulators to adopt trade rules that 
will at best promote free trade in the ICT sector.   
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