. /. RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/IT/W/19 
10 October 2005 
 (05-4606) 
 
  
DRAFT
 
 
REPORT (2005) OF THE COMMITTEE OF  PARTICIPANTS ON  THE EXPANSION 
OF TRADE IN INFORMAT ION TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS  
 
  1. The Committee of Participants  on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products, 
hereinafter referred to as "the Committee", was establ ished pursuant to the provi sions of the Ministerial 
Declaration on Tr ade in Information Technology Products (WT/ MIN(96)/16), hereinafter referred to as 
"the Ministerial Declaration", and the provisions for the Implementati on of the Ministerial Declaration 
on Trade in Information Technology 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 2005:  on 24 February, 25 May, and 
[20 October].  The minutes of these meetings are co ntained in documents G/IT /M/42 to [G/IT/M/44].  
Mr. Simon Chan (Hong Kong, China) was elec ted Chairman of the Committee for 2005. 
 
3. The total number of participants to the Minister ial Declaration is [sixty-six]. [In the past year, 
the schedules of Honduras, the Kingdom of Saudi Arab ia, and Nicaragua were circulated and approved 
by the Committee. The Committee no ted that the concessions contained in the schedule of the Kingdom 
of Saudi Arabia would come into effect upon the da te of the Kingdom's accession to the WTO.]  The 
Committee's rules of procedure provi de for observer status in the Committee for WTO Members which 
are not participants to the Ministerial Declaration and Governments that are observers to the Council for 
Trade in Goods.  Requests for observer status by international intergovernmental organizations are 
considered on a case-by-case basis.  The Inte rnational Trade Centre (I TC) and Organization for 
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have  been granted observer status; and the World 
Customs Organization (WCO) has been  granted observer status to meetings where the issues of HS 
classification and HS amendments are included in the agenda. 
 
4.  The Committee continued work on the Non- Tariff 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 not ed that the Chairman of the Committee, as agreed by the 
participants on  2005, sent a letter to the Chairman  of the NGMA, informing them of the Committee's 
work on NTMs by providing factual information on the work done in the ITA Committee, and also 
the accomplishments that had been realized. 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 A ssessment Procedures for EMC/EMI Used by ITA 
Participants" (G/IT/W/17).   
   G/IT/W/19 
Page 2  
 
 5.   The Committee continued its work on cl assification 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.2), as the basis for its discussions.  
In the past year, the Committee focused its discu ssions on List V (G/IT/W15). It conducted two 
rounds  of discussions on the first 11 items of List  V (G/IT/W/16 and G/IT/W/16/Rev.1). It also had 
initial discussions on the remaining 9 items of List V (G/IT/W/18). 
 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 pa st year (G/IT/W/14). Discussions are expected to 
continue on these matters in the course of its future work.   
 
7. 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. [Three] particip ants were still awaiting th e completion of domestic 
procedural requirements or had not yet submitted the necessary documentation.  During the year, 
three implementation/classification matters were rais ed under this agenda item by two participants in 
respect of the practices of three other participants. 
8. The Chairman regularly informed the Comm ittee under "other business" that participants 
continued to consult among themselve s on review of product coverage.  He encouraged delegations to 
continue their efforts.     
 This document will be updated to take into account the discussions at the meeting to be 
held on 20 October 2005. 
 
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