ITA Products and

Harmonized System

Jürgen Richtering
Chief, Integrated Data Base Section
Economic Research and Statistics Division
WTO Secretariat

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007

 Scope of Presentation

 ITA product coverage

 Harmonized System Amendments
 Transposing ITA products
 Product lists
 WTO Schedules

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 Product Coverage of ITA

 Attachment A, Section 1
Major IT products
(112 items related to 110 HS6d including 24 ex)
 Attachment A, Section 2
Semiconductor manufacturing and testing equipment and
parts
(78 items related to 45 HS6d including 71 ex, incl. Att. B
items)
 Attachment B
List of specific ITA products
(13 items without codes, most of them are already covered
by Attachment A)

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 3

 ITA Products in WTO Schedules

 ITA Annex Paragraph 1

Each participant shall incorporate the
measures described in paragraph 2 of the
Declaration into its schedule to the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, …
 ITA commitments became legal bindings
reflected in participants’ WTO Schedules

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 ITA Products in WTO Schedules

 Most participants have made ratifications to

their Schedule by including ITA commitments
at national tariff line level (more detailed than
HS)
 Following the ITA product lists but with
divergences for Attachment B products
 Included in the WTO Consolidated Tariff
Schedule (CTS) database with ITA flag

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 5

 Harmonized System Amendments

A nomenclature used by most countries since 1988. Maintained by the

World Customs Organization (WCO), revised every four or five years

 1992 Amendment (5018 HS codes)

Mainly editorial
 1996 Amendment (5113 HS codes)
393 amendments
 2002 Amendment (5224 HS codes)
374 amendments
 2007 Amendment (5052 HS codes)
354 amendments
 2012 Amendment already started

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 6

 Coverage of HS Amendments
Percentage HS subheadings involved in each HS amendment

HS96 HS02
69
(1.4%)
399 351
(7.9%) (6.9%)

60
(1.2%)
101 48
(2.0%) (0.9%)

389
(7.7%)
3639
(72.0%)
HS07
No change

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 Implementation of HS Amendments for ITA

When HS amended, HS structure and codes for ITA

products need to be updated in …

 WTO Schedules (Bound duties)

 Done by WTO Members / Secretariat
 ITA product lists: Attachment A and B to ITA
 Done by ITA participants / ITA Committee / Secretariat
 Schedules of applied tariff (Applied duties)
 Done by WTO Members themselves

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 8

 Relationship between the three
transpositions: bound, applied and ITA list

 Could be done independently

 Applied should conform to bound
 Applied/bound should conform to ITA product lists

But …
 Divergences between ITA list and bound/applied
already exist because of Attachment B products
 Change of the product list may result in
amendment of bound or applied coverage

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 9

 Roadmap

 WTO Schedules
 Will be transposed with existing CMA procedures
 May be reviewed by ITA Committee
 ITA lists will be transposed by ITA Committee
 Ratification of bound Schedules may be needed
when the new ITA lists are agreed

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 ITA Products and HS 2002

 8 subheadings have been affected by HS2002 (8542.12 to

8542.50 and 9009.90)
 Transposition of WTO Schedules have been done for
most Participants
 Following procedure and methods specified in WT/L/605
 Document G/IT/W/22 describes these changes in detail

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 ITA Products and HS 2007

 Major changes on ITA products

 Changes on printing machinery (84.43), ADP machines
(84.71), semiconductor manufacture equipment (84.86),
telecommunication products (85.17), media for recorded
data (85.23), monitors (85.28)
 158 of 241 subheadings have been affected
54 of 111 in Attachment A-1, 53 of 58 in A-2, and 51 of 71 in B
 Non-consensus correlations for printers (84.43),
semiconductor equipments(84.86)

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 12

 HS 2007 Transposition of Schedules

 Under CMA framework

 Same methodologies as HS 2002 for Schedule
 Starting Second half of this year
 Methodology documents : WT/L/673

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 13

 HS 2007 Transposition of ITA Lists

 Technical transposition by following WCO

standard correlation table
 Potentially increase “ex” items
 Classification divergence of Attachment B products
more complicated
 Redefine ITA product coverage in HS2007
nomenclature
 May reduce “ex” items, cleaner list
 May make it easier for discussions on Attachment B
items (e.g. agree full heading 84.86 as ITA)
 Needs to be negotiated

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 Example of 84.43 Printers – Schedule
Correlation Table ITA Attachment A Section 1
HS2007 HS2007 HS2002 ITA Code Description
8443.31 -- Machines which perform two ex8443.51*
or more of the functions of ex8471.60 8471.60 Input or output units ...
printing, copying or facsimile ex8517.21 8517.21 Facsimile machines
transmission, capable of ex9009.11* 9009.11 Electrostatic photocopying
connecting to an automatic .. ex9009.12* apparatus ...
Note: * No concensus for these correlations

Member A’s Schedule in HS 2002 Member A’s Schedule in HS 2007

HS2002 National Code Duty ITA HS2007 Duty ITA Product Description
8443.51* 8443.5100 20% No 8443.31.10 20% No Ink-jet printers other than
PC printer (HS02
… …
ex8443.51)
8471.60 8471.6000 0 Yes
8443.31.20 30% No photocopying machines
… … [indirect process] (HS02
ex9009.12)
8517.21 8517.2100 0 Yes
8443.31.90 0 Yes Other
… …
9009.11* 9009.1100 0 Yes
… …
9009.12* 9009.1200 30% No

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 15

 Example of 84.43 Printers – ITA List
Correlation Table ITA Attachment A Section 1
HS2007 Description HS2002 HS2002 Description
8443.31 -- Machines which perform two ex8443.51*
or more of the functions of ex8471.60 8471.60 Input or output units ...
printing, copying or facsimile ex8517.21 8517.21 Facsimile machines
transmission, capable of ex9009.11* 9009.11 Electrostatic photocopying
connecting to an automatic .. ex9009.12* apparatus ...
Note: * No concensus for these correlations

ITA Product List in HS 2002 ITA Product List in HS 2007

HS2002 Description HS2007 Description

ex8443.31 -- Machines which perform two or more of

8471.60 Input or output units ... the functions of printing, copying or
8517.21 Facsimile machines facsimile transmission, capable of
9009.11 Electrostatic photocopying connecting to an automatic ..
apparatus ...
Excluding:Ink-jet printers other than PC
printer (HS02 ex8443.51) and photocopying
machines [indirect process] (HS02
ex9009.12)

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 Conclusion

 HS amendments have great impact to ITA

products
 Both WTO Schedules and ITA lists need to be
updated
 Transposition is complicated process

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007 17

 Thank You!

WTO Information Technology Symposium, 29 March 2007