WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/6/Add.5 
6 October 2005 
 (05-4493) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   English 
  
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Progress Report: Discussions on Electronic NTBs
1 
 
Communication from Korea 
 
Addendum  
  
 The following communication, dated 20  Septem ber 2005 is being circulated at the request of 
delegation of Korea. 
_______________ 
 
Introduction
 
 1. This report has been prepared to inform the Negotiating Group on Market Access (NGMA) of 
the current state of the discussions on non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in the electronics industry.  2. Paragraph 14 of Annex B of the July framework  envisages request/offer, horizontal or vertical 
approaches as the modalities for addressing NTBs in  the NAMA negotiations. Korea presented as its 
contribution to the vertical approach for addressi ng NTBs a paper entitled, “NTBs of the electronics 
industry (TN/MA/W/6/Add.4)” on November 2004.  3. Informal group meetings on NTBs in the electronics industry have been launched to address NTBs through the vertical approach. Korea has hoste d five such meetings since February, in tandem 
with regular NAMA negotiations me etings with attendance by vari ous members from both developing 
and developed countries. The fourth  meeting in June was held in the form of a joint session where 
representatives from the electronics business commun ity attended. E-dialogue is underway among 
those participants in the informal group meetings  in order to continue discussions even during the 
intermission.  
4. This report is a factual summary of the work  undertaken by the group since its establishment, 
which includes information on its  meetings up to the present. Korea hopes that this report will 
appropriately respond to the recent request from th e chairman of the NGMA that transparency be 
assured through substantive reporti ng in the multilateral setting. 
 
 
     
                                                     
 
1 This report was circulated at the meeting of the Negotiating Group on market Access held on 
21-22 September 2005 TN/MA/W/6/Add.5 
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Summary of Discussions
 
 A. F
IRST MEETING  
1. The first meeting was held on 2 February 2005 with 12 participants.2 Participants had 
productive discussions on the operational details and agenda regarding the future meetings. They 
shared the following views:  
- The informal meetings will have to place mo re focus on substantial issues, such as actual 
NTB cases, rather than on procedural matters. 
- The meetings will have to be undertaken in an open-ended way. 
- The results of the meeting should be reported to the plenary session in an appropriate fashion 
so as to ensure transparency.  
- With regard to the NTB list issued by notifyi ng countries, detailed information on the nature 
of each notified NTB will have to be duly provided. 
 B. S
ECOND MEETING  
1. During the second round of the meetings held on March 17 in which 9 members3 attended, 
two NTB issues were raised by the United States: first, duplicate tes ting for each individual model in 
a series of similar products with similar performance characteristics;  second, standards focused on 
design rather than performance, su ch as e-accessibility regulations in favour of certain technology. 
The U.S. gave further explanations on the natu re of NTBs and general discussions followed.  
 C. T
HIRD MEETING  
1. The third meeting was held on April 27 with 11 participants.4 Participants began to discuss 
individual NTB cases, which had been put forward by  them. At the meeting, Korea submitted four 
NTBs: minimum import price system, import substitution policy, safety standard certification procedure, and redundant customs inspections. (Two issues - import substitution policy and safety 
standard certification procedure - have been withdraw n for further verifications in June.) The United 
States also raised another issue which relates to  unique prescriptive testing and certification methods 
and standards that lack international recognition.  
 2. With regard to individual NTB cases, the partic ipants shared the view that participants could 
raise any issue of concern to them through the tabling of a brief statement of the problem and its commercial impact. Participants then exchanged view s on how to determine: a) whether a particular 
NTB is the one that can be of shared concern; a nd b) if so, what possible ways there could be to 
address such concerns. 
                                                     
 
2 Australia, Canada, EC, Hong Kong China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, 
Switzerland, Chinese Ta ipei, and the United States of America 
3 Australia, Canada, Hong Kong China, Japan, Kore a, Singapore, Switzerland , Chinese Taipei, and the 
United States of America 
4 Australia, Canada, EC, Hong Kong China, India, Ja pan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, 
and the United States of America  TN/MA/W/6/Add.5 
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3. The participants also recognized that the expa nsion of participation was the key to the success 
of the discussions. In this regard, Korea expressed its view that it would be desirable to identify NTBs 
that meet the following criteria and to seek solutions to them: 
 
- NTBs that members may have a common interest in 
- NTBs that would help advance trade expansion - NTBs that, once resolved, could benefit all members  D. F
OURTH MEETING : JOINT SESSION  
1. On June 7, the fourth meeting was held in  the form of a joint ses sion where both government 
officials from 10 members5 and industry representatives attended  after meeting of government 
officials. The business representatives included officials from the ITI (Information Technology 
Industry Council) and JEITA (Japan Electronics & Information Technology Industries association). 
2. The business representatives expressed their vi ew that NTBs undermine the benefits that 
could be gained through tariff reduction by dela ying time to market, limiting design flexibility and 
causing unnecessary administrative costs for manufact urers. They highlighted some NTB cases, 
especially those related to customs classification of IT and non-IT converged electronics products, 
such as LCD monitors. They asked for as many NT Bs in the broadest range of ICT/electronic 
products as possible to be addressed.  
E. F
IFTH MEETING  
1. The fifth meeting was held on 20 September with 9 members.6 Participants had constructive 
and fruitful discussions on a number of individual NTBs, including a new customs classification-
related NTB raised by Japan. Discussions also focused on how to achieve a more concrete and 
tangible progress in the NTB negotiations. 
 
2. The participants took note that they may need to sort out some of the NTBs currently on the 
table according to their priority as they intend to  move the discussions forward in a more action-
oriented way. They agreed to further explore the way of prioritizing the NTBs as they continue to 
exchange views and information on NTBs, in part icular, through e-dialogue. They also exchanged 
their views on how to prepare “specific written negotia ting proposals.” In this regard, it was suggested 
that one of the useful ways to do this would be to develop a short paper which describes the nature of 
a particular NTB, its economic im pact and its possible solutions. 
 3. They shared the view that this Progress Report would be useful in helping address the issue of 
transparency. They also exchanged their views on how to expand and encourag e greater participation 
in the electronic NTB resolution process. 
 
E-dialogue
 
 
4. An “electronic dialogue” has been launched to further facilitate and continue discussions even 
during the intermission among participants. Discussions on some NTBs such as the one that is related 
to customs classification are under way through e-dialogue. 
 
 
                                                      
5 Australia, Canada, EC, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Swit zerland, Chinese Taipei , Thailand, and the United 
States of America 
6 Canada, Japan, Hong Kong China, Korea, Malays ia, Switzerland, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, and the 
United States of America TN/MA/W/6/Add.5 
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 Next Steps
 
 
5. Participants plan to continue  to exchange views on the NTBs that have been put forward for 
discussions. Once those NTBs of shared concerns have  been identified and sufficient information has 
been gathered regarding their nature and extent , participating members will discuss how to address 
them in the context of the Doha negotiations. The enclosed flow chart is intended to help members 
better understand how NTBs, including those in  the electronic industry, can be addressed. 
 - It would be efficient to first identify NTBs freque ntly faced in trade by certain industries, then 
seek solutions to them through plurilateral m eetings and then finally to multilateralize  the 
outcome. Such an approach would be preferab le because NTBs are by nature factually and 
technically complicated so that it would be be tter for interested members to start discussions 
on the specific NTBs facing them. 
 - However, during that process, concerns s hould be appropriately and timely addressed over 
transparency and inclusiveness. 
 6. The meeting is and will remain open to all me mbers who are interested in the exercise. The 
informal group encourages members to provide their comments on the electronic NTBs that have been put forward for discussion. They can do so eith er by attending the meeting or by e-mailing their 
opinions to Korea’s contact point ( multi@mocie.go.kr
 and wto@mofat.go.kr ). Similar reports will be 
duly prepared and submitted to the NGMA as discussions proceed. 
    
  TN/MA/W/6/Add.5 
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