RESTRICTED  
  
G/IT/M/58  
 
19 February 2014  
(14-1048)  Page: 1/9  
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products    
 
 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 14 OCTOBER 2013 
CHAIRMAN: MR AARON FOWLER (CANADA) 
 
INTRODUCTI ON ............................................................................................................... 1  
1   REVIEW OF THE STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MINISTERIAL 
DECLARATION ON TRADE IN INFO RMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS 
(G/IT/1/REV.49) ............................................................................................................. 1  
2   REVIEW OF PR ODUCT COVERAGE ................................................................................ 2  
3   NON-TARIFF MEASURES WORK PROGRAMME (G/IT/19, 
G/IT/SPEC/Q4/19/RE V.2 AND G/IT/SPEC/ Q2/11/REV.1) ............................................. 3  
4   EMC/EMI PILOT PROJECT - DRAFT LIST OF THE TYPES OF CONFORMITY 
ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES FOR EMC/EMI USED BY ITA PARTICIPANTS 
(G/IT/W/17/REV.11) ...................................................................................................... 5  
5   DIVERGENCES IN CLASSIFYING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS 
(G/IT/14/REV.1/ADD.1, G/IT/W/6/REV.3, G/IT/W/33, G/IT/W/34 AND 
G/IT/27) ...................................................................................................................... ... 7 
6   NEW PARTICIPANTS ................................................................................................... 8  
7.  DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT (2013) OF TH E COMMITTEE TO THE CO UNCIL FOR TRADE IN 
GOODS (G/IT/W/38)  
8.   OTHER BUSINESS ....................................................................................................... 9  
8.1   Date of the next meeting .......................................................................................... 9  
 
INTRODUCTION 
The Committee adopted the proposed agenda for the meeting which was circulated in WTO/AIR/4199 
dated 2 October 2013. An annotated agenda for the meeting was circulated in document JOB/IT/10 
dated 9 October 2013. The Chairman stated that he wo uld take up the issue of the "date of the next 
meeting" under Other Business.   
1  REVIEW OF THE STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MINISTERIAL DECLARATION 
ON TRADE IN INFORMATION TECHNO LOGY PRODUCTS (G/IT/1/REV.49) 
1.1 The Chairman stated that an overview of th e implementation of the Ministerial Declaration 
on Trade in Information Technology Products wa s contained in document G/IT/1/Rev.49.  This 
document updated the Participants on the issues pertaining to the WTO procedures for implementation. As indicated in the document, he wanted to flag two long pending issues:  
the completion by El Salvador of its domestic le gal procedural requirements and the submission by 
Morocco of its ITA schedule of commitments.  
1.2 For El Salvador, the completion of its domestic legal procedural requirements was still 
pending. He invited El Salvador to provide the Committee with an update.  However, since the G/IT/M/58 
 
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  delegation of El Salvador was not present, he suggested this issue be taken up at the next meeting 
of the Committee.  
1.3 The Chairman explained that Morocco had become a participant to the ITA on 
14 November 2003.  However, they had not yet submitted their final ITA schedule of 
commitments.  Despite the letter sent to the delegation of Morocco from his predecessor dated 
14 November 2011 and the subsequent contacts with the delegation of Morocco earlier this year concerning the status of their ITA schedule, a formal response from the Delegation of Morocco was 
still pending.  He noted that the delegation of Morocco was not present, and suggested this issue 
be taken up at the next meeting of the Committee.  
1.4 The Chairman noted that no other delegation wished to take the floor under this agenda 
item and urged Members that had yet to complete the procedures for the formal rectification and 
modification of schedules, as required by the Decision of 26 March 1980 on Procedures for 
Modification and Rectification of Schedules of Tariff Concessions, to do so as soon as possible.    
1.5 The Committee took note of the statements made.  
2  REVIEW OF PRODUCT COVERAGE 2.1 The Chairman recalled that, a request had been made by some delegations at the 
Committee meeting of 15 May 2012, that the "review of product coverage" should become a 
regular agenda item in the meetings of the Committ ee.  This would then provide an opportunity for 
the Committee to receive reports and updates from Participants who were engaged in bilateral and plurilateral consultations related to the review of product coverage. He invited delegations who wished to do so, to report or make statements on this matter.   
2.2 The representative of Japan informed the Committee of the recent statement given by his 
Trade Minister where he stated that Japan had continued to play an active role in the advancement 
of the ITA expansion negotiations, and that Japan welcomed the current development, including 
the decision on reconvening the meetings.  The negotiations would be held in Geneva during the 
week of 21 October 2013.  Japan would continue to make a major contribution towards concluding 
the negotiations before MC9.  A transparency sessi on would be convened for all ITA Participants on 
25 October 2013 where the delegation of Japan would report the progress made during that week.  
2.3 The representative of the United States  thanked Japan, and was pleased that the 
negotiations on the ITA Expansion would resume the following week.  He stated that further to the 
very fruitful discussions at the recent APEC meetin gs in Bali, APEC leaders reiterated their request 
for the smooth conclusion of the negotiations in time for the WTO Ministerial in Bali.  His 
delegation hoped that that goal would be reached.  He noted that it would require all Participants to demonstrate flexibility in their positions so that a significantly balanced result could be achieved 
commercially. 
2.4 The representative of the European Union also thanked Japan for hosting the important 
meetings on the ITA expansion.  He called upon the Participants of the ITA to join and be active in 
these negotiations.  Bali would be the best chance of a success and the European Union took that 
deadline very seriously and would be active in the negotiations in order to get a good result for the important objective of expanding the coverage of ITA. 
2.5 The representative of Canada was pleased with the resumption of the expansion 
negotiations and thanked Japan for hosting thes e negotiations. Participants were committed to 
conclude a deal by MC9.  Canada recognised that there were different levels of ambition amongst Participants; however, a balanced outcome was needed which would be commercially meaningful 
for global industry and administrable for customs authorities.   Canada was ready to accelerate 
and complete the negotiations in the coming week s with a view to reaching an agreement which 
would result in widespread trade and investment opportunities for business. 
2.6 The representative of Switzerland agreed with other speakers and reiterated that the ITA 
expansion process aimed at being concluded at the MC9 in Bali, in less than two-month time.  
As the clock was ticking and a fair amount of work remained to be done, the Swiss delegation believed that an agreement on ITA expansion could be concluded by MC9, if some conditions were G/IT/M/58 
 
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  fulfilled.  In particular, Participants with long lists of sensitive items should do their best to 
consider staging rather than removal of products. 
2.7 The representative of Korea joined previous  speakers in welcoming the resumption of the 
expansion negotiations and looked forward to negoti ations being concluded in time before the Bali 
Ministerial Conference in December.  Korea hoped that in order to move the negotiations forward 
effectively, the interest of the Participants should be reflected in the final product list in a balanced manner.  In those cases, reasonable and creative  solutions could be brought about, taking into 
consideration the spirit of the expansion of the ITA.   
2.8 The representative of Hong Kong, China, as  previous speakers, was pleased that the group 
would resume the negotiations next week.  She thanked Japan for hosting the meetings of the 
following week.  Her delegation would continue to  contribute positively and looked forward to a 
meaningful outcome at MC9. 
2.9 The Chairman thanked those delegations who intervened with their reports and suggested 
that the Committee took note of the statements ma de and agreed to revert to this matter, as 
appropriate, at its next meeting.   
2.10 It was so agreed. 
3  NON-TARIFF MEASURES WORK PROGRAMME (G/IT/19, G/IT/SPEC/Q4/19/REV.2 
AND G/IT/SPEC/Q2/11/REV.1) 
3.1 The Chairman recalled that at the en d of 2000, the ITA Committee approved a Work 
Programme on Non-Tariff Measures with the objective of identifying impediments to trade in ITA 
products.  He invited Participants to make report s or updates on the work of NTMs, including any 
efforts undertaken in the context of bilateral and plurilateral consultations.   
3.2 The representative of Switzerland raised two points. The first point was regarding the 
document, G/IT/SPEC/Q4/19/Rev.2, which contained an overview of the responses to the survey 
on EMC/EMI made by the WTO Secretariat.  He noticed that the document was already ten years 
old.  As to the responses to the survey on th e EMC/EMI which had been updated in March 2013, he 
asked the WTO Secretariat whether it was worth updating the overview of the responses.    
3.3 His second point was to share some reflections on Non-Tariff Barriers in the context of IT.  
As per paragraph 3 of the Annex to the 1996 Ministerial Declaration, ITA Participants should meet periodically to consult on Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade in IT products.  Although it was mandated, Participants should recognise that not much progress had been made in recent years.   Switzerland 
was of the view that substantial discussions should re-start at some point.  
3.4 He stated that the IT Symposium to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the ITA in May 2012 
had started the negotiations on expansion of the ITA product coverage.  A symposium (or 
workshop) essentially focusing on NTBs for IT products was also needed.  Therefore, Switzerland 
proposed that a workshop dedicated to NTBs for trade in IT products takes place in the near future.  Following the format to the 2012 ITA Sy mposium, such a workshop on NTBs should be 
driven by inputs from industries.  He also stated that given the current allocation of resources to 
the ITA expansion and the preparations for Bali, th e proposed workshop on NTBs for IT products 
could take place in the first half of 2014.  His de legation looked forward to hearing the views of 
other delegations on the proposal. 
3.5 The representative of Japan reported on th e progress made by a small group on NTBs since 
the last Committee meeting in March.  He said th at the group had some conceptual discussions.  
In this regard, Japan fully supported the Swiss proposal of holding a workshop and that such 
workshop should be driven by inputs from indust ries.  Japan looked forward to working together 
with other Members on this. 
3.6 The representative of India thanked Switze rland for their intervention and supported the 
idea of a workshop on NTBs.  He stated that in case the membership came to an agreement for a 
workshop, his delegation would be interested in making a presentation on India's conformity assessment procedures. G/IT/M/58 
 
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  3.7 The representative of the United States agreed with previous speakers and felt that 
meaningful work could be done on the NTBs, partic ularly on improving the transparency aspect in 
that regard updating the existing transparency mechanism, the EMC/EMI survey, would be useful 
as it was noted most of the responses were ten years old.  He believed that it was important that 
the market access issues that were discussed in ITA were relevant to and reflected the interest of 
the industry.  His delegation woul d support the initiative to invite industry representatives in 
identifying emerging issues that could be addressed in the ITA Committee.  In this spirit, his 
delegation would support the idea proposed by Switzerland for a workshop at some time in 2014. 
3.8 The representative of the European Union agreed with the Swiss statement that Participants 
should not be working on the basis of documents that were roughly ten years old.  He, 
furthermore, stated that the Committee should not forget about the work programme, which the 
Chairman had referred to in his opening remarks for this agenda item, and be a little more focus.  
In this context, he referred to Paragraph 8 of  the Concept Paper for the Expansion of the ITA 
(documents G/IT/W/36 and G/IT/W/36/Add.1), which stated that: "Separately, the ITA Committee 
should take concrete steps to advance the important ongoing work under the Non-Tariff Measures 
(NTMs) Work Programme, to further facilitate international trade in this important sector".  He recalled that when this paper was presented, his delegation supported the idea. He felt that now it 
was about time to start thinking about defining these concrete steps in a smaller setting as 
referred to by the Japanese delegation.  He furt her felt that this could be supplemented by the 
ideas of the IT industry. He referred to the most recent WTO Public Forum at which the IT industry representatives had a dedicated session on NTBs to trade in IT products and indicated their 
support and strong interests in addressing the issues involved beyond transparency.  He suggested 
that the Committee thinks about how to define a detailed work programme so that the times between the announcement of the programme and the delivery of some results could be reduced 
from the currently almost ten years, to something that would be more in line with the reality of 
business, where new models of IT products would have been coming out every three months.  His delegation would very much like to define the concrete steps as soon as possible.  His delegation 
was equally interested in holding a workshop on NTBs.  The work of the Committee should be in-
line with what would be needed by the IT industry.  The relevance of the ITA depended on how its Participants were responding and solving these issues.   
3.9 The representative of Singapore thanked Sw itzerland for the proposal for a workshop.  
Singapore saw value in having the NTB workshop sometime next year to identify the existing 
emerging NTB issues.  It would be important to hear from stakeholders about what exactly were 
the barriers they were facing, so that the Committee could work towards solutions and address 
them in the future work of the Committee. 
3.10 The representative of Australia supported Switzerland's proposal for a workshop on NTBs, 
and felt that it would be an important step to re-invigorate the work programme.  He agreed with 
many who had spoken before that many of the documents and initial steps were quite old.  There 
was a need to use the proposed workshop and the input from industry as a launching pad to try 
and go further, which would be particularly important once there would be a big success in Bali. His delegation would like to be involved in any consultations that hopefully the Chairman would 
hold in the intervening period before the prop osed workshop in early, or the middle of 2014. 
3.11 The representative of Costa Rica welcomed the proposal by Switzerland to hold a workshop 
next year on NTBs. She agreed wi th Switzerland and others that it would be important to have 
active participation by the industry and the possi bility to interact between the industry and the 
Participants so as to be kept up-to-date.  Also, to learn from the industry of what barriers they encountered.  She further stated that as an issue of great interest, her delegation hoped to 
contribute and participate in the discussions or consultations that the Chairman might convene. 
3.12 The representative of Hong Kong, China supported Switzerland for the proposal of a 
workshop on NTBs, and felt that it would be useful in identifying relevant issues and help the IT 
industry in removing the barriers. She looked forward to positive discussions and contributions 
from all Members to the workshop.  
3.13 The representative of Malaysia supported the proposal by Switzerland to organize a 
workshop on NTBs in the first half of 2014. He hoped the workshop would enhance the 
understanding on NTBs by the Committee and the industry.     G/IT/M/58 
 
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  3.14 The representative of the Philippines joined  others in supporting the NTM work programme, 
particularly the workshop envisioned for the first half of 2014. 
3.15 The representative of Canada supported the proposal for a workshop on NTMs in the first 
half of 2014.  She agreed with Switzerland that the workshop should be mainly industry driven. 
She believed that the workshop would certainly be the best opportunity to inform Committee 
Participants of their needs and challenges.   
3.16 The representative of Norway supported th e proposal of Switzerland regarding a workshop 
on NTBs, which he felt would be a positive and constructive event.  
3.17 The representative of China joined the previous speakers in supporting the proposal for a 
workshop on NTBs next year.  She also felt that the NTBs issue would be an important one to deal 
at this stage and in the future.  Her delegation looked forward to joining any consultations in terms 
of preparation for the workshop.  
3.18 The representative of Chinese Taipei also welcomed Switzerland's proposal to hold a 
workshop and looked forward to actively participating in the workshop. 
3.19 The representative of Korea agreed with Swit zerland's proposal to hold an ITA workshop on 
NTBs.  He believed that the discussions on NTBs would facilitate trade in IT products and that the 
workshop could serve as an important gathering to search for a way forward, as it could be 
effective and instrumental for the private sector's active participation.  
3.20 The Chairman stated that the suggestion for an update of the summary survey results 
document concerning EMC/EMI was a reasonable request.  He invited the Secretariat to react and 
perhaps give an indication of what kind of timeline this could be done in. 
3.21 The Secretariat thanked the delegation of Switzerland for raising the issue regarding the 
document, G/IT/SPEC/Q4/19/Rev.2 which of course was out of date.  But the EMC/EMI Pilot 
Project List – G/IT/W/17/Rev.9, reflecting what had been used in practice by some of the 
Participants, had been updated from time to time.  Switzerland and the Philippines had most 
recently updated their types of EMC/EMI conformity assessment procedures.  The Committee could use that as a basis; however, if the membership preferred to use the document mentioned by 
Switzerland, that document could be updated too.  It would be up to the membership to decide 
whether to update the document – G/IT/SPEC/Q4 /19/Rev.2 or not.  The Pilot Project List 
contained the information submitted by 27 Participants (including the EU 28 as one); however, there had still been 23, including most newly jo ined Participants, whom had not notified their 
EMC/EMI practice. 
3.22 The Chairman stated that the Committee would delve into that issue in more detail under 
the next agenda item.  He then referred to the proposal by Switzerland to convene a workshop on 
NTBs affecting trade in IT products in the first half of 2014. He summarized that there were 15 
delegations supporting the idea of organising such  a workshop and there were no negative points 
of view.  He suggested that if it was so agreed, he would invite those delegations interested to 
meet with him and the Secretariat, with a view to organising the proposed workshop sometime in 
the first half of 2014.  He said that at the mo ment, he would leave the timing of the proposed 
workshop up in the air and subject to further di scussions with delegations before or around the 
time of the next Committee meeting in the spring of 2014.  
3.23 It was so agreed.  
4  EMC/EMI PILOT PROJECT - DRAFT LIST OF  THE TYPES OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT 
PROCEDURES FOR EMC/EMI USED BY ITA PARTICIPANTS (G/IT/W/17/REV.11) 
4.1 The Chairman recalled that one of the ou tcomes of the NTM Work Programme was the 
completion of a pilot project which led to the adoption of the "Guidelines for Electromagnetic 
Compatibility (EMC) and Electromagnetic Interfer ence (EMI) Conformity Assessment Procedures" 
on an ad referendum  basis.  Upon adoption of these "Guidelines", the Secretariat, based on the 
survey responses submitted by and notifications received from Participants, prepared the note 
"Draft List of Types of Conformity Assessment Pr ocedures for EMC/EMI used by ITA Participants" G/IT/M/58 
 
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  (G/IT/W/17).  During subsequent proceedings of the Committee, Participants indicated that they 
had found the information contained therein very useful and wished to have it completed.  To date, amongst the 50 ITA Participants (accounting the EU as one), 27 had provided such information.  However, including those Participants who had most recently joined, there still were 
23 Participants who had neither submitted a survey response nor a notification regarding the type 
of assessment procedures used by their authorities for EMC/EMI.   
4.2 The representative of the European Union thanked the Chairman for his introduction and 
update.  He said that in this context, his delegati on would like to make three proposals.  The first 
proposal was that the document - G/IT/W/17/Rev.11 be published on a website for access by the public, and be updated as soon as a revision be came available.  The second proposal was to 
publish the document – G/IT/25 as well, so as to facilitate the access by a wider public.  In his 
view, G/IT/25 was one of the major results of th e Committee's work and the guidelines were the 
basis for that.  The third proposal was requesting to extend the pilot project to the areas which were mentioned in 1999, including electrical safety, telecommunications and radio terminal 
equipment.  There should be the possibility fo r those who would be interested, on a voluntary 
basis, to contribute with regards to the classification which would be produced according to the guideline, and the risks would be important for the regulation of the product that had been 
referred to.  A way of extending the coverage of the mapping had to be found, as was being used 
in document G/IT/W/17/Rev.11. In this regard, he recalled that in document G/IT/SPEC/Q1/25 of 22 March 1999, there was a question:  "what confor mity assessment procedures either in respect 
of the product or the manufacturing process, do es your government require for approval of 
information technology products (including electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), electrical safety, 
telecommunications and radio terminal equipment, and other areas)".   
4.3 The representative of the United States sa w the EMC/EMI survey of conformity assessment 
procedures used by ITA Participants as an important and practical issue; the increased 
transparency in regulatory approaches was useful for both industry and Governments.  The US Government and the US industry had found that the information contained in the EMC/EMI survey 
responses were useful and strongly encouraged the 23 Members that hadn't completed this 
survey, to do so as soon as possible.  In particular he invited the newest Participants to the ITA to submit their responses.  He said that his delegation would not support the suggestion made by the EU about expanding this to include other areas, given the fact that 23 Members had not submitted 
information under the existing pilot project.  
4.4 The Chairman thanked both delegations for their interventions. He said that since the 
information on EMC/EMI had increased transparency on the types of conformity assessment 
procedures for EMC/EMI used by these ITA Particip ants, and since it had facilitated international 
trade in this important sector, he encouraged the 23 delegations that had not yet done so, to provide this information to the Secretariat as soon as possible, to enable the Committee to 
complete this work. He requested those delegations that had any queries to contact the 
Secretariat for detailed information, clarification or assistance. He also asked that the Secretariat continues to contact such delegations in order to provide the required technical assistance to them in their preparation of survey responses.   
4.5 He further asked the Participants once again to reflect upon what steps, if any, they would 
be prepared to consider, with a view to maximizing the utility of the information on EMC/EMI conformity assessment procedures that had been  provided and that which would hopefully be 
forthcoming in the near future.  Regarding the two suggestions from the European Union - one 
being to publish that information and two being to expand the scope, he noted that the quick 
reaction from the United States to at least one aspect of that.  He urged other delegations to 
reflect on the proposals and discuss them with other interested delegations so that the Committee 
c o u l d  t a k e  t h a t  u p  a g a i n  a t  i t s  n e x t  m e e t i n g .    A s  n o  d e l e g a t i o n  w a n t e d  t o  c o m m e n t  o n  h i s  summary, he suggested the Committee take note of the statements made and revert to this 
matter at its next meeting.   
4.6 It was so agreed. G/IT/M/58 
 
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  5  DIVERGENCES IN CLASSIFYING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS 
(G/IT/14/REV.1/ADD.1, G/IT/W/6/REV.3, G/IT/W/33, G/IT/W/34 AND G/IT/27) 
5.1 The Chairman recalled that on the subject of divergences in the classification of ITA 
products, Participants had agreed at the last Committee meeting to adopt the draft decision 
proposed by the Chair - with regard to the endo rsement of List I-A items (which was found in 
G/IT/W/34) on an ad referendum  basis with 90 days provided for comments.  On 18 June 2013, 
which fell within the 90 day limit, El Salvador requested an additional 30 days.  However, no 
comments were forthcoming within those extended deadlines and so on 20 July 2013 the Decision 
found in G/IT/27 was approved.  He was pleased to see that after 16 years of work the Committee had finally made a breakthrough on this question.  It was a small step, but it was still an important step forward.  He said that upon the adoption of this Decision, each participant shall reflect the 
agreed classifications in its WTO Schedule of concessions, as appropriate, following the procedures 
set forth in the 1980 Decision on Procedures for Modification and Rectification of Schedules of Tariff Concessions.  Participants should submit the relevant documentation in connection with such 
modifications no later than 30 April 2014, as specified in the Decision.  He further stated that the 
Secretariat would be happy to provide technical assistance in making such modifications to developing country Participants upon request.  
5.2 He invited Participants to think about how the Committee should advance its work on 
classification divergences for other items.  In this context, he recalled that at the Committee meeting of November 2012 the delegation of Sw itzerland proposed a possible way forward to 
address classification divergences for other items.  He understood that the Swiss delegation had 
prepared a room document for discussions in the Committee today.  He invited the Swiss 
delegation to elaborate on its proposal.  
5.3 The representative of Switzerland stated that his delegation could not say that the 
Committee's work on classification divergences had been a success.  His delegation did not see 
any benefits in pursuing this exercise with the current parameters, i.e. using the HS96 nomenclature. Switzerland therefore did not understand why the Committee should continue to 
work on the basis of a nomenclature which had no t been used for almost 15 years.  It would not 
solve the difficulties that traders or customs officers  faced in identifying the relevant tariff line for 
a specific ITA product.  However, Switzerland did agree that reducing the classification divergences 
was an important work that had to be pursued.  
5.4 He stated that his delegation had prepared a room document which was available at the 
back of the room.  The main elements of the do cument include a brief summary of the state-of-
play and a proposal on the possible way forward.   On the possible way forward, the document 
mentioned that the WTO Secretariat had issued, in June 2007, a JOB document (JOB(07)/96) - 
HS2007 Amendments in Relation to ITA Products and a Model List in HS2007.  The document stated that since the HS2007 had been the nomenclature where classifications' changes most 
affected ITA products, the model list contained in  JOB(07)/96 could be used as a benchmark for 
ITA Participants to identify classification dive rgences.  The document proposed the following 
procedure:  (1) by a certain date before the next formal ITA Committee meeting, for instance, one month before, ITA Participants would indicate (a) for which tariff lines their classification diverges 
from the model ITA list, and (b) where they classified the product in question, at least at the HS 6 
digits level; and (2) the WTO Secretariat would compile the answers in a document available to all ITA Participants.  On the basis of that document, ITA Participants would be able to see where work 
on reducing classification divergences had still to be done.  His delegation looked forward to 
receiving feedback and hearing the views of other Members on this proposal.   
5.5 The representative of Australia thanked Switzerland for their proposal which they would 
consider.  He felt that it would be important to look at the interaction with the Committee's on-
going work on the HS2007 schedule certification as they correlated.  His delegation would be open to ideas, including looking at the current list and waiting to see what would happen with the ITA product expansion.  In his view, the product expansion might also affect how the divergences issue 
was looked at.   
5.6 The representative of the European Union thanked Switzerland for their proposal. In his 
view, it was an interesting proposal, and clearly, indicated there had been a problem in the ITA 
with classification.  This problem had been very difficult to solve and this meeting of the G/IT/M/58 
 
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  Committee had been the first time that some progress had been made and for which he 
congratulated the Chairman.  
5.7 He stated that the Swiss proposal deserved some consideration but a decision could not be 
made today.  His delegation would need some time to consider it.  He also considered that the 
expansion and review process were important because most of the problems faced by the 
Participants needed a way forward.  In any case, if the expansion negotiations could be successfully concluded, most of those issues wo uld no longer be a problem, because product 
coverage of the ITA would be expanded and the classification would not matter anymore.  For 
example, in heading 84.86 for Manufacturing of Semi-conductors, where there were many of the 
problems, this would not be a problem anymore if the whole of the HS heading would be covered.  Nevertheless, the Swiss proposal was an interest ing one which deserved careful consideration.  
5.8 The representative of Switzerland thanked Australia and the EU.  He apologised for the delay 
in circulating the document. His delegation would like to discuss this issue further with any 
interested delegations and on how to move the process forward.  
5.9 The Chairman stated that this was a helpful proposal and would benefit from time for 
reflection from other delegations.  He urged Participants to provide their views to the Swiss 
delegation.  He encouraged Switzerland and others to keep him informed on any developments, 
and if there would be a consensus view that emer ged prior to the next meeting, he would send a 
communication on the matter before the spring Committee meeting.  He suggested that the Committee take note of the statements made and revert to this issue at the next meeting.   
5.10 It was so agreed.  
6 NEW PARTICIPANTS 6.1 The Chairman welcomed Qatar and the Russian Federation, which became the 77th and 78th 
Participants to the Committee on 4 July 2013 and 13 September 2013 respectively.  
He encouraged both Qatar and the Russian Federation to complete, as soon as possible, the 
procedures for the formal rectification and modifica tion of schedules, as required by the Decision 
of 26 March 1980 on Procedures for Modification and Rectification of Schedules of Tariff 
Concessions.    
6.2 The representative of the Russian Federation expressed her thanks to the Secretariat and to 
all the countries involved in the completion of th e work on the accession of the Russian Federation 
to the Agreement. 
6.3 The Chairman stated that 2013 had been a very  busy year in terms of new Participants for 
the Committee.  Apart from welcoming three new Participants, Tajikistan as well as Qatar and the 
Russian Federation, the Secretariat had been very bu sy with requests for assistance in joining the 
ITA from other WTO Members and countries that were  in the process of acceding to the WTO.  He 
suggested the Committee take note of the statements made under this agenda item. 
6.4 It was so agreed .   
7. DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT (2013) OF TH E COMMITTEE TO THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE 
IN GOODS (G/IT/W/38)  
7.1 The Chairman stated that as the Committee reported annually to the CTG, and a draft had 
been prepared in document G/IT/W/38, which would be updated to take into account the 
developments of this meeting.  He turned to th e draft report and opened the floor for comments.  
7.2 The draft annual report was approved with the proposed updates mentioned earlier as well 
as to reflect today's discussion.  G/IT/M/58 
 
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  8. OTHER BUSINESS 
8.1 Date of the next meeting   8.1 The Chairman proposed that the next meetin g of the Committee be held in the spring of 
2014, with the exact date would be decided in consultation with delegations.  
8.2 It was so agreed. 
  
 
 
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