Lao PDR on course to join information technology agreements

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is set to become the first least developed country to accede to both the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and ITA Expansion. At successive meetings of the Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products and the ITA Expansion Group on 30 July, Participants welcomed Lao PDR’s decision to join the two agreements and reviewed Lao PDR’s proposed respective schedules for eliminating tariffs on the covered products. Lao PDR is proposing to eliminate tariffs on the majority of products covered by the agreements from its date of accession while removing tariffs on a limited number of products over a transition period.

The original ITA covers a large number of high-technology products, including computers, telecommunication equipment, semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing and testing equipment, software, and scientific instruments as well as most of the parts and accessories of these products. The ITA now covers 82 WTO members, which account for approximately 97 per cent of world trade in information technology products and approximately 10 per cent of global merchandise exports.

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https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news21_e/ita_30jul21_e.htm