. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/L/867 
10 November 2008 
 (08-5439) 
 
  
REPORT (2008) 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 one formal meeting in 2008: i.e. on 30 October.  The minutes of the 
meeting are contained in document G/IT/M/50 (to be issued).  Mr. Khalid I. Emara (Egypt) was 
elected Chairman of the Committee for 2008. 
3. The total number of participants to the Minist erial Declaration is seventy-one (71). Since the 
last report, the schedule of the Ukraine was circulated and approved by the Committee. At the meeting of 30 October 2008, the Committee agreed that  the ITA schedule of Peru be deemed to be 
approved unless any participant would notify in writing to the Secretariat within three weeks from the 
circulation of Peruvian ITA schedule.  It is  anticipated that Peru will soon become the 72
nd participant 
to the Ministerial Declaration once its schedule is  approved. The Committee's rules of procedure 
provide 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 inte rgovernmental organizations are considered on a 
case-by-case basis. The International Trade Ce ntre (ITC) and the Organization for Economic 
Cooperation and Developmen t (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 its deliberations on the Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) Work 
Programme. With regard to its work on the EMC/EM I Pilot Project, further to the approval of the 
"Guidelines for EMC/EMI Conformity Assessment Procedures" (G/IT/25) on an ad referendum  basis, 
the Committee received survey responses from tho se participants who had not provided their 
information with a view to up-dating the Secretar iat's note of the "Draft List of the Types of 
Conformity Assessment Procedures for EMC/EMI Used by ITA Participants" (G/IT/W/17/Rev.4). 
The Committee took note that among the 44 participants  24 of them have provided the information.  
In considering ways to advan ce and expand its work on NTMs other than EMC/EMI, the Committee 
also heard reports and updates by participants on th eir contributions to the work on NTMs, including 
those in other bodies of the WTO, e.g., in the NGMA.   G/L/867 
Page 2  
 
  5. The Committee further continued its work on classi fication divergences.  In this respect, the 
Committee continued to use the last  report from the customs experts
1 (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.  
At the meeting of 30 October 2008, the Committe e focused its discussions  on the List V items 
(G/IT/W15, G/IT/W/20 and JOB(07)/91/Rev.1 + Corr.1); Communications received from the World 
Customs Organization (WCO) concerning List  III (G/IT/26/Add.2); and other Lists of 
G/IT/W/6/Rev.3. Participants agreed to advance the Committee's work on classification divergences 
and requested the Chairman of the Committee to work  with the Secretariat to prepare an informal 
paper listing various ideas and options suggested by the participants on the way forward.   
6. At the meeting of 30 October 2008, the Comm ittee discussed the proposal by the European 
Communities concerning the Review of the Inform ation Technology Agreement (ITA) (G/IT/W/28). 
Participants had an intense exchange of views on the proposal and a number of queries were raised to 
the proponent seeking further information and clarification. The Chairman of the Committee encouraged the proponent to continue to engage bi laterally with those delegations with a view to 
enabling the Committee to consider the initiation of in formal consultations in this regard as soon as 
possible.    
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 participan ts were still awaiting th e completion of domestic 
procedural requirements or had not yet submitted the necessary documentation.   
8. 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.     
 
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 1 Based on the report from the Customs Experts as summarized in document G/IT/14/Rev.1/Add.1, 
classification divergences of ITA Attachment B ite ms were categorized in document G/IT/W/6/Rev.3 
as follows: List I (A) - divergences were narrowed to one classification option; List  I (B) - divergences were 
narrowed two or more possible classifications, agreement on classifications reached; List II - divergence were 
narrowed to two or more possible classifications, no agreement on classifications reached; List III - items to be 
sent to the WCO HSC; List IV - items where no further progress could be achieved  due to a number of 
circumstances; and List V - items referred to  this formal Committee to be addressed.