23/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - Member states have unanimously adopted the Commission's proposal allowing the United Kingdom to apply the self-liquidation mechanism on value added tax (VAT) for certain electronic products such as computer chips and MP3 players. This decision will figure as a point of non-discussion on the agriculture ministers meeting agenda on Monday 19 March. According to this mechanism, only income-tax payers at the end of the product purchasing chain are subject to VAT, and not intermediaries. Application of the self-liquidation mechanism is only authorised on a sectoral basis (e.g. construction sector). Despite reservations from the Commission and most member states, Germany and Austria said they wanted the mechanism extended to their countries (EUROPE 9316). (mb)