Nairobi, 16/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On the sidelines of the WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi on Wednesday 16 December, the trade ministers of the 53 WTO member countries - led by the EU, the US, China, Japan, Canada and Costa Rica - concluded an agreement revising the WTO's 1997 information technology agreement (ITA) so as to extend the list of products covered to 201 new products (for which annual world trade is estimated at $1.3 billion). This is the first tariff reduction agreement sealed at the WTO in 18 years.
The products targeted by this extension include new generation semi-conductors, medical equipment (including magnetic resonance imaging equipment and ultrasound diagnostic apparatus), game consoles and GPS devices.
The agreement also provides for a commitment to staggered customs duty reduction for these products - for which 90% of the tariff lines will be reduced to zero between 1 July 2016 and 1 July 2019. All duties on these products will be removed by 1 January 2024.
“This is great news for consumers, who should see the prices of their favourite electronic products fall. It should also give a boost to Europe's high-tech manufacturing sector. We expect the deal to give our entrepreneurs easier access to state-of-the-art technology and help them reach out to the overseas markets”, said European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström.
The European Commission says in a press release that the staggering of the tariff liberalisation provided for by the revised ITA will enable the EU to respect the sensitive nature of some IT sectors that still require import duties - such as televisions, certain monitors, projectors and non-digital car radios.
“The conclusion of the revised ITA shows that we can achieve global solutions that benefit all sides”, the Commission added. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)