Brussels, 04/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 1 July, the European Commission announced that together with the US, the EU is among the first WTO members to have ratified and implemented the revised WTO agreement on the liberalisation of trade in information technology (the Information Technology Agreement - ITA). The ITA was concluded by 53 WTO member countries on the sidelines of the 10th WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi on 16 December 2015.
Procedural delays have occurred in China, South Korea and Japan, but these countries' implementation of the revised ITA is scheduled soon, the Commission assures, saying that the last participating countries (Australia, Iceland, the Philippines and Switzerland) will implement the agreement as of 1 January 2017.
The revised ITA extends the scope of the 1997 ITA to 201 new IT products, the annual trade in which is valued at $1.3 trillion or nearly 10% of world trade. The products targeted by this extension include new generation semi-conductors, GPS, medical equipment (including magnetic resonance imaging and ultra-sound scanning diagnostic equipment), machine tools used for the manufacture of printed circuits, telecommunications satellites and touch-screens.
The revised ITA provides for a staggered commitment to reducing customs duties on these products, for which the tariff lines will be cut to zero between 1 July 2016 and 1 July 2019. All duties on these products will be removed on 1 January 2024.
The EU ratified the revised ITA with the green light given by the Council on 17 June, after the prior approval of the European Parliament on 8 June (see EUROPE 11575). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)