WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/69 
28 April 2006 
 (06-2037) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Tariff Elimination in the Electronics/Electrical Sector
 
 
Communication from Hong Kong, China; Japan; Korea; Singapore; 
 Thailand  and the United States 
 
 The following communication, dated 27 April 2006,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of Hong Kong, China; Japan; Korea;  Singapore; Thailand  and the United States. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. As proposed in the previous communicati on of 4 July 2005 (ref.TN/MA/W/59) and of 
11 October 2005 (ref. TN/MA/W/59/Add.1), tariff elimination in the electronics/electrical sector is an essential component of a successful outcome of the Doha development agenda , whose key objectives 
include development through expansion of trade by enhanced market access.  The 
electronics/electrical sector is a dynamic sector featuring extensive global supply networks in both developing and developed countri es and interdependence among them. 
 2. The industry has expressed their position in sup port of elimination of tariffs, together with 
non-tariff barriers, in this Round in various occasions.
1 The discussions on electronic NTB in the 
Negotiating Group on Market Access are recorded in TN/MA/W/6./Add.5.  3. In view of the Ministerial Declarati on adopted in Hong Kong in December 2005 
(WT/MIN(05)/W3/Rev.2), which instructed the NAM A negotiating group to review proposals with a 
view to identifying those which could garner suffici ent participation, and considering the extensive 
informal discussions among a broad range of Memb ers since tabling the previous communication, the 
modalities and product coverage for tariff eliminati on in the electronics/electrical sector are proposed 
as set out in the following sections for further discussions.  
II. MODALITIES AND PRODUCT COVERAGE 
A. P
RODUCT COVERAGE  
4. Technological innovation has created converg ence among products, and conventional product 
boundaries are becoming less clear. In order to cope w ith this convergence issue, the coverage of the 
electronics/electrical products sect oral initiative should be as wide-r anging as possible and simple for 
                                                      
1 See e.g. , “GLOBAL ICT/ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY  MESSAGE TO THE WTO MINISTERIAL 
IN HONG KONG Regarding Market Access Negotiations for ICT/Electronics a nd Electrical Products”, issued 
by AETIS (Ecuador), CCIT (Colombia), EICTA (Europe), ITAC/ACTI (Canada). IAESI (Israel), ICT (Ireland), 
JEITA (Japan), KEA (Korea), MAIT  (India), SEIPI (the Philippines), US High-Tech Trade Coalition 
(13 December 2005). TN/MA/W/69 
Page 2  
 
  Members to implement. This sectoral initiative should  therefore cover a very broad range of products, 
such as information technology (IT) products, audi o-visual products, home electrical appliances, 
office machines and other electronic/electrical equipment and machinery, the precise product coverage of which should be  elaborated further. In addition, to tally new products which have emerged 
after the introduction of the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA), such as multi-chip 
packages (MCPs) should also be covered. 
 5. Product coverage has been discussed in informal  meetings of this sectoral initiative, typically 
drawn on HS Chapters 84, 85 and 90. Members are encouraged to convey their interests with respect to product coverage as soon as possible to fac ilitate Members to focus on negotiation toward 
finalization thereafter.  
 B. C
RITICAL MASS  
6. As agreed in paragraph 16 of  the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, participation in sectoral 
initiatives should be on a non-mandatory basis. This approach enables countries with greatest trade 
interest in the sector to negotiate the product cove rage for such initiatives.  At the same time, an 
adequate level of participation representing a vast majority of the world trade should be needed in 
order to reap sufficient benefit from the initiative,  as suggested in the same paragraph noted above. 
The specific threshold [x% of world trade value] sh all be determined as soon as possible, based on the 
list of the products covered and with a view  to the circumstances of those industries. 
 
C. TARGET RATE AND IMPLEMENTATION  
7. This sectoral initiative will, in principle, ai m at total elimination of tariffs on the covered 
products, and will be implemented in accordance with the implementation process of the Round. 
Therefore, the standard target rate and its im plementation shall be as follows. (See Section D for 
Special and Differential Treatment.) 
 
-  End Rate: zero  -  Implementation periods: same as the standa rd implementation period (to be agreed in NAMA 
negotiation in general) 
-  Staging: equal annual instalment (equal steps each year)  
D. 
SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATM ENT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES  
8. A variety of flexibility options could be employed to account for the special needs and 
interests of developing Members. Developing countri es can be entitled to choose some combinations 
of the following options according to special need s and interests of each country. Specific conditions 
and limits for flexibility options will be further discu ssed with reference to the general modalities, to 
be established by 30 April 2006 pursuant to paragr aph 23 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
Specific product treatment shall be duly incorpor ated into each Member’s concession schedule to the 
GATT These flexibility options include:  (i) Longer Implementation Periods:  
 Longer implementation periods may be applied for specific tariff lines up to a certain trade 
value share of the total product coverage. 
  TN/MA/W/69 
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  (ii) Zero for X: 
  As a limited exception, tariff rate of [X]% ma y be maintained for specific tariff lines up to a 
certain trade value share of the sectoral prod uct coverage, if the tariff rate after tariff 
reduction in accordance with the general modalities is above [X]%. 
 
(iii) Others:   Additional S&D measure may be further consid ered, up to a certain limits, for the purpose of 
encouraging participation by developing Members. 
 
E. M
ISCELLANEOUS ELEMENTS  
9. Due consideration will be given to the integrit y of the total package of this sectoral initiative 
in defining the product coverage and the specific ob ligations of each Member, while encouraging as 
many Members as possible to participate.  
 
10. Participants in this initiative shall regularly  monitor any developments in the implementation, 
and shall also discuss any possible improvements and enhancement.  F. 
NEXT STEPS  
11. The sectoral modalities and  product coverage set out above shall be finalized by 
[15 July 2006]. 
 12. This initiative should be incorporated in the final outcome of the DDA, and the obligation of 
under this initiative shall be implemented as a part of it.   
 
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