. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/797 
7 November 2006 
 (06-5353) 
 
  
 
REPORT (2006) OF THE COMMITTEE OF  PARTICIPANTS ON  THE EXPANSION 
OF TRADE IN INFORMAT ION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS  
 
 1. The Committee of Participants on the Expans ion 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 T echnology Products (G/L/160), in order to carry out 
the provisions of paragraphs 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the Annex to the Declaration. 
2. The Committee has held three formal meetings thus far in 2006:  on 4 February, 21 July, and 
31 October.  The minutes of these meetings are contained in documents G/IT/M/45 to G/IT/M/47.  
Mr. Martin Pospíšil (Czech Republic) was el ected Chairman of the Committee for 2006. 
3. The total number of participants to the Minister ial Declaration is sixty-nine. Since the last 
report, the schedules of Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam  
were circulated and approved by the Committee. The Committee noted that the concessions contained 
in the schedule of the Socialist Republic of Viet Na m would come into effect upon the date of its  
accession to the WTO and the duty-free treatment for all ITA products will be achieved within seven 
years from the date of Viet Nam's accession to th e WTO.  The Committee's rules of procedure provide 
for observer status in the Committe e for WTO Members which are not pa rticipants to the Ministerial 
Declaration and Governments that are observers to the Council for Trade in Goods.  Requests for 
observer status by international intergovernmenta l organizations are considered on a case-by-case 
basis.  The International Trade Centre (ITC)  and Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development (OECD) have been granted observe r status; and the World Customs Organization 
(WCO) has been granted observer status to meetin gs where the issues of HS classification and HS 
amendments are included in the agenda. 
4. The Committee continued work on the Non-Tari ff Measures (NTMs) Work Programme.  It 
took note of the Secretariat's papers on  the subject (G/IT/SPEC/Q2/11/Rev.1 and 
G/IT/SPEC/Q4/19/Rev.2) which provided an overview of the submissions and an overview of the 
survey responses. The Committee proceeded with  its work on the EMC/EMI Pilot Project and 
approved the "Guidelines for EMC/EMI Conformity Assessment Procedures" (G/IT/25) on an ad 
referendum  basis. It also took note of the Secretariat' s note of the "Draft List of the Types of 
Conformity Assessment Procedures for EMC/EMI U sed by ITA Participants" (G/IT/W/17/Rev.3).   
5. The Committee further continued its work on classi fication divergences.  In this respect, the 
Committee continued with the last report from the customs experts (G/IT/14/Rev.1/Add.1) and the 
compilation document, as revised by the Secretariat (G/IT/W/6/Rev.3), as the basis for its discussions.  
In the past year, the Committee focused its discussions on List V (G/IT/W15). It conducted further 
discussions on List V (G/IT/W/20). Communications were also received from the World Customs Organization (WCO) concerning List III (G/IT/26 and G/IT/26/Add.1).  G/L/797 
Page 2  
 
  6. As a follow-up to the IT Symposium organized by the Committee in October 2004, a number 
of elements were taken up for discussions in the past  year (G/IT/W/14), and in particular on the issue 
of classification related to the transposition of HS96 to HS2002 (G/IT/W/22). Discussions are 
expected to continue on these matters in  the course of its future work.   
7. At the meeting of 21 July, the Committee discu ssed the suggestion by the Chairman regarding 
the preparation to organize another event, such  as a workshop or a symposium next year to 
commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the ITA.  At the meeting of 31 October 2006, the Committee 
agreed to hold the symposium in March 2007. 
8. At the meetings of 21 July and 31 October 2006, the Committee discussed the proposals by 
the Unites States concerning product coverage  of the current ITA.   
9. The Committee has consistently reviewed the status of implementation, a summary of which 
is provided in document G/IT/1 and its revisions.  The document noted that most participants had 
submitted the formal documentation for rectificat ion and modification of their WTO schedules in 
order to incorporate the commitments arising from the Ministerial Declaration and most had been certified by the Director-General. One participan t was still awaiting the completion of domestic 
procedural requirements or had not yet submitted th e necessary documentation.  During the year, one  
implementation/classification matter was raised under th is agenda item by one participant in respect 
of the practices of another participant. 
10. The Committee, under "other business", consider ed a request from the Global ICT industry 
associations and agreed with the Chairman that he  will initiate a workshop outside the context of the 
Committee on 7 December 2006, as an opportunity for the Committee Participants, to meet all 
interested IT industry associations from the ITA Participants.    
11. The Chairman regularly informed the Committe e under "other business" that participants 
continued to consult among themselve s on review of product coverage.  He encouraged delegations to 
continue their efforts.     
 
__________