Brussels, 08/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament voted by 529 to 110, with 37 abstentions, in Strasbourg on Wednesday 8 June to approve the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the EU, of a revised WTO agreement on information technology products (ITA).
This agreement was concluded by the ministers of the 53 member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the lead being taken by the EU, the United States, China, Japan, Canada, Costa Rica, Australia and South Korea, on the sidelines of the 10th WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi on 16 December 2016. It revises the 1997 ITA, extending the list of products covered to 201 new products, world trade in which is calculated to be $1,300 billion, accounting for 10% of total global trade. This is the first tariff reduction agreement concluded at the WTO since 1995 (see EUROPE 11455).
Among the products covered in the this new agreement are new-generation semi-conductors, GPS navigation systems, medical products (including magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasonic scanning machines), machine tools for manufacturing printed circuits, telecommunications satellites and touch screens.
The revised agreement includes a commitment on staged reductions of customs duties on these products, with 90% of tariff lines being reduced to zero between 1 July 2016 and 1 July 2019. All duties on these products will be removed by 1 January 2024.
The EU exports products covered by the ITA extension worth €189 billion, a figure that is expected to rise significantly after the tariff cuts, stated the rapporteur, Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (EPP, Germany), in her recommendation. “The agreement will lead to lower prices for consumers, but also for producers who depend on imported components. Some sectors will however also experience increased competition”, she noted, welcoming that the EU had negotiated longer staging for some products that were considered to be sensitive, while the majority of the non-sensitive tariffs will be eliminated at the entry into force of the agreement. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)