Experience and Observations from the Secretariat in Providing Assistance to Interested WTO Members a

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Experience and Observations from the Secretariat
in Providing Assistance to Interested WTO Members
and Observers

• Presentation for IT Symposium 19 October 2004

By Denby Probst, Counsellor, Market Access
Division
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Objectives of the Presentation

• Overview of Process of becoming an ITA
  participant
• Secretariat aid and technical assistance
• Final provisions

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Brief Overview of the ITA

• Declaration signed on 13 December 1996 by 14
  states or separate customs territories and the
  European Communities
• There is no definition of information technology
  in the Declaration. Information technology
  products are only defined by their inclusion in
  Attachment A or Attachment B of the Declaration
• Bind and eliminate customs duties and other
  duties and charges on all products listed in
  Attachments A and B in the Annex to the
  Declaration

ITA
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The Attachments

• Attachment A, Section 1-- Lists products by HS
  classification
• Attachment A, Section 2-- Semiconductor
  manufacturing and testing equipment listed by HS
  code and some for attachment B items
• Attachment B-- Products listed by
  description no HS classification

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The ITA Today

• 63 Participants (including the Member states of
  the European Communities)
• Albania Iceland New Zealand
• Australia India Norway
• Bahrain Indonesia Oman
• Bulgaria Israel Panama
• Canada Japan Philippines
• China Jordan Romania
• Costa Rica Korea Separate Customs Territory
  
• Croatia Kyrgyz Rep. of Taiwan, Penghu,
• Egypt Macao, China Kinman and Matsu
• El Salvador Malaysia Singapore
• EC Mauritius Switzerland
• Georgia Moldova Thailand
• Hong Kong, Morocco Turkey
• China United States
• .

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Initial Discussions with Interested Delegations

• Documentation
• WT/MIN(96)/16
• Examples of schedules
• Process
• Submisson of schedule to Committee meeting
• Assistance
• Varies by participant, provide what is needed

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Making the Decision to Join

• Political will
• Decision by appropriate authorities in capital
• Consultations with domestic producers, consumers,
  importers, exporters, advocacy groups, etc...

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First Draft Schedule

• Prepared by
• the Member concerned
• the Secretariat
• Joint effort
• Comprised of
• Loose-leaf schedule of commitments
• Attachment B
• Staging Matrix

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Verification of Schedules

• Procedures outlined in G/IT/M/2
• "Any WTO Member, State or separate customs
  territory in the process of acceding to the WTO,
  hereinafter referred to as government, that would
  like to become a participant to the Ministerial
  Declaration on Trade in Information Technology
  Products should send a formal request to the
  Director-General of the WTO and submit a draft
  schedule of its commitments for verification. If
  the draft schedule is in line with the conditions
  set out in the Ministerial Declaration, it would
  only need to be verified in the usual way, first
  informally by the Secretariat1 and then in the
  Committee, and unless there are objections, the
  government in question could become a
  participant. If, however, the government in
  question would want to deviate from the
  conditions set forth in the Declaration, this
  would have to be negotiated between the
  government concerned and the participants before
  its draft schedule is submitted for
  verification."
• Speed accuracy
• Streamlined a labor intesive process
• Ensures accuracy, especially minute details
• Practical Experience

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Next Steps

• Draft schedule
• discrepancies found
• verification clean
• verification continues
• between Secretariat
• and country concerned
• Proceed to Committee
• process

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Final Verification Sheet
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Before the Meeting

• Letter indicating intent to join accompanied by
  final verified schedule sent to the Secretariat
• Proposed schedule,verification sheet, and
  accompanying details faxed to ITA participants
• Consultations with ITA participants

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Becoming a Participant

• The Committee meeting
• ITA Committee to take such a decision
• Agenda itemNew Participants
• Interested delegation to state their interest and
  explain their schedule
• Committee approval typically at this meeting

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The Legal Process

• Rectification and modification of Schedules
  (Decison of 26 March 1980 on Procedures for
  Modification and Rectification of Schedules of
  Tariff Concessions (BISD 27S/25)
• Letter requesting schedule to be circulated
• Circulation of G/MA/TAR/RS/... document
• 3-month wait
• Certification

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Those in the Process of WTO Accession

• Slightly different procedure than WTO Members
• Commitments integrated into the Protocol of
  Accession
• Timing typically linked to accession

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Final Provisions

• Domestic
• Implementation
• Parliamentary approval or similar legal
  procedures
• Industry adjustment
• WTO
• Certification
• Letter of acceptance

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The Work of the Committee

• Committee of Participants on the Expansion of
  Trade in Information Technology Products was
  established in 1997 to carry out the provision of
  the Ministerial Declaration
• The Committee is open to all participants, and
  other WTO Member and acceding countries are
  invited as observers
• Oversees matters of implementation, and any other
  issue related to the declaration

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In Summary

• Experiences vary by participant
• Length of time
• Level of commitments
• Participant-driven process
• Secretariat available at any stage of the process
  for assistance

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Thank you

• Questions ?
• Comments ?
• Contact details denby.probst_at_wto.org

The End