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To: 
 ITA Participants  Ref: ICN/IT/1 /Suppl.1  
From:  
 Mr Don Spedding  
Chairperson  
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade 
in Information Technology Products  Date:  20/07/2023 
   
 
ITA COMMITTEE  
INFORMAL COMMITTEE MEETING OF 14 JULY  2023  
Chairperson's Summary Report1 
Supplement  
An informal ITA  Committee meeting was held on 14  July with the objective of obtaining 
ITA Participants' feedback on the consolidated table in document  JOB/IT/33 . 
 
The discussi on followed the structure of the document and the main points arising from that 
discussion have been reproduced below:  
 
1  ASSISTANCE TO CAPITAL -BASED AND GENEVA -BASED OFFICIALS  
1.1.  It was noted that the presentation on the ITA and the Committee's work ( RD/IT/53 ) made by 
the Secretariat at the Committee meeting in October  2022 had been useful and that such a practice 
should be encouraged. There was also a request to circulate presentations as room documents and 
for them to be referenced on the website page for the Committee in the future.  
1.2.  The Ch air noted that there appeared to be general support for the Secretariat to continue to 
organize introductory sessions in the future at informal/formal sessions of the ITA  Committee; and 
for the Secretariat to prepare a manual describing the main procedural  and substantive aspects of 
the work of the Committee in similar style with manuals being prepared for other Committees.  
2  PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION OF MEETINGS  
2.1.  On "enhancing planning of meetings" (2a) , appreciation was expressed for the work done by 
the Gen eral Council and the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) on the annual calendar and there was 
encouragement for meetings of the CTG  subsidiary bodies to be held in advance of the CTG  meeting.  
2.2.  On the issue of "dedicated ITA  Committee cross -cutting and joint se ssions of two or more 
bodies"  (2d), support was expressed for holding either cross -cutting or joint sessions with other 
Committees or bodies on an ad hoc basis. The possibility was raised of inviting experts from other 
WTO bodies (i.e. Committee on Market Access) and from the World Customs Organization (WCO) to 
introduce related work on HS  transposition and product classification. Support was also expressed 
to hold thematic sessions on linkages between the ICT  industry and WTO  issues. The Chair noted 
that t here appeared to be support for the Committee to hold dedicated sessions on cross -cutting 
issues on an ad hoc basis as needed.  
 
1 The contents of this document were also circulated in document  JOB/IT/34. WTO   OMC 
- 2 - 
 
 
3  WORK PROCEDURES  
3.1.  On "improvements to the agenda" (3a) , a suggestion was made to extend the minimum 
time-frame for circulation of t he agenda to 15  days before an upcoming meeting, instead of the 
current practice of 10  days. The Chair noted that this suggestion appeared to have support and he 
would propose that the Committee formally endorse this change through written procedures.  
3.2.  On "introduction of an annotated agenda (3b)" , the Chair indicated that an annotated agenda 
had been systematically circulated before the Committee's formal meetings and the Committee 
agreed that the current practice worked well. A request was also made to sha re the final version of 
the agenda via email to all ITA  Participants.  
3.3.  On "improving the effectiveness of discussions concerning specific trade concerns" (3c) , a view 
was expressed that resolving long -standing specific trade concerns remained a priority.  
3.4.  On "improvements to the preparation of minutes of formal meetings" (3d) , support was 
expressed to produce minutes of formal meetings in the reported style, to avoid possible 
misinterpretation of interventions. Further discussions were needed with the Secreta riat on how to 
achieve the goal of producing minutes faster, under the constraint of limited resources.  
3.5.  On "circulation of oral reports by the Chairperson and the Secretariat shortly after (informal) 
meetings" (3e)  and "Summaries of informal meetings" (3i) , it was noted that oral reports by the 
Chair and Secretariat made during formal meetings were reflected in the minutes. It was pointed 
out that while presentations were made available as room documents, it would be useful to also 
have a written account of  the remarks made by the presenter. The Chair noted that there was 
support expressed for circulating factual summary reports of informal meetings by the Chairperson.  
3.6.  Regarding "organization of thematic or experience -sharing sessions" (3j) , the point was made 
that the ITA  Symposia, which had been organized every five  years, had been valuable and that the 
practice should continue. A suggestion was also made to hold more regular targeted thematic 
sessions as the symposia tended to be rather ge neral. Topics such as linkages between ITA  goods 
and sustainable development; model list issues; HS  conversion -related work, as well as benefits of 
the ITA for developing Members, were mentioned as useful subjects to cover. A suggestion was 
made to hold th e ITA  Symposium every year, but attention was drawn to the cost and resource 
implications when organizing such events. The Chair noted that there appeared to be support for 
the Committee to consider more targeted, topic -specific thematic sessions and dialo gues with 
industry stakeholders in the future.  
3.7.  On issues such as "include hyperlinks to documents and references cited in documents" (3g)  
and "procedures for organization of informal meetings" (3h) , it was noted that the Secretariat should 
undertake improv ements to Committee work without requiring a Committee decision to do so. A 
suggestion was made that Participants should bring ideas to improve the working of the 
ITA Committee based on their experiences in other Committees.  
4  USE OF DIGITAL TOOLS  
4.1.  Regarding "implementation of eAgenda" (4a) , the point was made that some Committees have 
used eAgenda to manage the organization of meetings and delegations had found it useful. A 
suggestion was made that the ITA  Committee implement the eAgenda on a trial basis for the next 
Committee meeting. However, it was also noted that introducing such a tool might have some 
administrative and resource implications. In this connection, a step -by-step approach was 
advocated. The Chair noted that there appeared to be support to in troduce eAgenda in the 
ITA Committee on a trial basis keeping in mind budgetary considerations. He requested the 
Secretariat to make enquiries and to provide advice to ITA  Participants as to whether there would 
be any financial implications for the introdu ction of eAgenda in the ITA  Committee. In due course, 
he would inform ITA Participants of the outcomes of the Secretariat 's enquiries and, if appropriate, 
move to written procedure s. 
4.2.  On "adoption of the trade concerns database" (4d) , a suggestion was made to include the trade 
concerns raised at the ITA  Committee in the WTO  Trade Concerns Database. However, the point was 
also made that further discussions were required on this item.  
4.3.  On "improvements to the WTO  website" (4g) , a suggestion was made to standard ize the look 
of various Committee/topic webpages, and another suggestion was made to post reports by the 
Chair and presentations by the Secretariat on the ITA  webpage for download.  WTO   OMC 
- 3 - 
 
 
4.4.  In his conclusion , the Chair found the informal discussion very useful and thanked all 
delegations for their thoughtful and valuable inputs. Based on these inputs, he would update 
document  JOB/IT/33  and propose a list of actions for possible endorsement by the Committee, either 
through written procedures or at the Committee's autumn formal meeting. Views expressed by 
ITA Participants, as well as the action plan, would be used as the basis for his report to the CTG. He 
also indicated that additional informal meetings could be organized for further discussions, if 
necessary.  
5  DATE OF NEXT FORMAL COMMITTEE MEETING  
5.1.  The Committee agreed to the Chair's proposal to reschedule the formal ITA  Committ ee meeting 
from 26  September to Thursday,19  October  2023. 
__________