. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/IT/W/36 
2 May 2012 
 (12-2338) 
Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in 
Information Technology Products Original:   English 
 
 
 
CONCEPT PAPER FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE ITA  
Communication from Canada, Japan, Korea, the Se parate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, 
Kinmen and Matsu, Singapore and the United States 
 
I. BACKGROUND 
1. Fifteen years have passed since the Minist erial Declaration on Trade in Information 
Technology Products (WT/MIN(96)/16) or, as it is more commonly known, the "Information 
Technology Agreement" (ITA), was concluded on 13 December 1996 at the Singapore Ministerial 
Conference.  The Agreement has been tremendously  successful in facilitating increased global trade 
and investment, encouraging information and communications technology (ICT) adoption, and 
reducing the cost of ICT inputs.  Since 1996, global trade in ITA products is estimated to have grown 
at more than 10 per cent annually - to an estimated US$4 trillion annually in 2008.1  ITA Membership 
has also grown to include 47 participants (cove ring 74 Members and States or separate customs 
territories in the process of acceding to the WT O).  The resulting diffusion of ICT products 
throughout every sector of the economy has played a significant role in driving global economic 
growth and development, accelerating productivity gain s, and encouraging innovation.  Supply chains 
have become much more global, strengtheni ng regional integration, and deepening the 
interdependency of trade relations as more and mo re countries add value along the production chain.  
Together, these developments have  contributed to increased welfare, raised living standards, and 
created employment.  
2. Over the last 15 years, the ICT sector itsel f has evolved dramatically.  Many ICT products 
have experienced rapid technological developmen t, with new products and production methods 
entering and transforming the marketplace.  New ge neration products are much more sophisticated 
than their predecessors, often incorporating new features and technologies.  At the same time, 
products that existed at the time the ITA was ne gotiated but were not included account for a growing 
share of ICT trade.  Today, consumers have increasing flexibility to access digital content from 
numerous connected devices and platforms.  These changes in the industry and the pace of innovation 
have contributed to uncertainty with respect to  customs classification for numerous electronics 
products - increasing costs to business and consumers - due to the fact that ITA product coverage is 
defined on the basis of 1996 Harmonized System (HS) tariff nomenclature. 
3. Despite significant changes to the HS system  in 2002, 2007, and 2012 that better reflect 
technological development, new products that have en tered the market, and changes to the patterns of 
global ICT trade, product coverage under the ITA has never been expanded. In addition, certain large 
ICT-producing countries remain outside of the ITA framework.  These developments have generated 
substantial interest among ITA Members and the priv ate sector to expand the scope of coverage to 
include new products.  In response to reco mmendations from the global ICT industry, in 
                                                      
1 http://www.usitc.gov/publications/ 332/journals/info_tech_agreement.pdf . G/IT/W/36 
Page 2  
 
  November 2011, APEC Leaders agreed in Honolulu to play a leadership role in launching 
negotiations to expand the product cove rage and membership of the ITA. 
II. THE NEED TO LAUNCH NEGOTIATIONS TO EXPAND THE ITA 
4. In order to make the ITA more comprehensive, recognizing changes in patterns of global ICT 
trade and production and the pace of technological  innovation in the industr y, negotiations should 
commence promptly, on the following basis: 
- Expand the product coverage of the ITA; and 
- Seek to include non-signatory IT producers in the ITA. 
5. Given the dramatic changes in the ICT sector in the past 15 years, ITA Participants should 
begin negotiations promptly, with a view to rapid conclusion and implementation.  A successful 
expansion of ITA product coverage , concluded in the near-term, would provide a much-needed boost 
to the global economy, and reinforce the impor tance of the multilateral trading system.  
6. ITA Participants should accelerate consultations  with domestic stakeholders to grasp their 
needs for the expansion of the product coverage.  Examples of key categories of products that could 
be covered by the ITA include:  a) products capable  of processing digital signals; b) products that can 
send or receive digital signals with or without lin es; c) ICT manufacturing equipment; and d) related 
components, attachments, and parts. 
7. To facilitate an early conclusion of ITA e xpansion negotiations, such  negotiations should be 
focused on the elements listed in Paragraph 4.  
8. Separately, the ITA Committee should take c oncrete steps to advance the important ongoing 
work under the Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) Work Programme
2, to further facilitate international 
trade in this important sector. 
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2 G/IT/19.