It said it was committed to join the ITA as part of its WTO accession, and pledged to bind at zero its tariffs on ITA products as from the date of its accession.

The new ITA chair, Mr. Khalid Emara of Egypt, said that the Ukraine's tariff schedule on ITA products would soon be circulated to participants. He added that Ukraine would become an ITA participant if there no objections were received within two weeks of the circulation of the country's ITA schedule.

Earlier in the meeting, the Committee elected by acclamation Mr. Emara as its new chair.

During the meeting, the United States reiterated its concern that the European Union had changed customs treatment of certain ITA products (e.g. PC display monitors), making these products ineligible to zero tariff under the ITA. These views were shared by Japan, which expressed concern that the EU action could expand to other IT products. Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Korea and Hong Kong, China shared the concerns expressed by the US and Japan. The EU maintained it has abided by its ITA commitments, and suggested holding a dialogue on this issue open to all members with the participation of customs experts. India supported the EU's position. The Chair said he would organize informal consultations on this issue, which would be open to all ITA participants, and they could bring along experts if they would so wish.

On non-tariff barriers, the EU reiterated the importance of the Committee's work in this area. It said such measures could cause serious delays, and sometimes could prevent trade from taking place. It urged ITA participants to support its proposal on this issue in the NAMA negotiations, The United States and the Philippines supported the EU statement.

The Committee also considered two updated Secretariat papers: a draft list of types of conformity assessment procedures for EMC/EMI used by ITA participants, and a summary of discussion on divergences in classifying IT products.