EU proposes new WTO accord on high-tech products

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GENEVA, Sept 15 (AFP): The European Union today proposed updating a World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on high-technology products to include new models and neutralise a complaint from the United States, Japan and Taiwan.
"We need an ITA (information technology agreement) for the 21st century that will continue to benefit our consumers and businesses," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in a statement.
The existing ITA dates from 1996 and prohibits duties on certain high-technology products.
But the US and the two Asian countries claim that EU is violating WTO rules by imposing duties on imports of certain products such as "cable boxes that can access the Internet, flat-panel computer monitors, and certain computer printers that can also scan, fax and/or copy."