On 13 December 1996, in Singapore, ministers adopt the Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products, document WT/MIN(96)/16 of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization. The parties listed are WTO Members and separate customs territories in the process of acceding, accounting for well over 80 per cent of world trade in these products: Australia, Canada, the European Communities, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Norway, the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States. It is not the general Ministerial Declaration of the Conference, and not the 2015 Nairobi expansion of the ITA.

The preamble recognizes the key role of trade in information technology products in the development of information industries and in the dynamic expansion of the world economy. Ministers desire maximum freedom of world trade in these products, continued technological development of the industry on a world-wide basis, and the putting into effect of the results of the negotiations as concessions additional to those in the Schedules attached to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994.

Paragraph 1 provides that each party's trade regime should evolve in a manner that enhances market access opportunities for information technology products. Paragraph 2 requires each party, pursuant to the modalities in the Annex, to bind and eliminate customs duties and other duties and charges of any kind, within the meaning of Article II:1(b) of the GATT 1994, on all products classified with Harmonized System (1996) headings listed in Attachment A and on all products specified in Attachment B, whether or not they are included in Attachment A. Reductions are to be made in equal rate steps beginning in 1997 and concluding in 2000, recognizing that extended staging and, before implementation, expansion of product coverage may be necessary in limited circumstances.

Paragraph 3 instructs officials to complete the plurilateral technical discussions in Geneva by 31 January 1997, so as to ensure implementation of the Declaration by the largest number of participants. Paragraph 4 invites other WTO Members and acceding customs territories to give similar instructions so that they may take part in those discussions.

The Annex opens participation to any WTO Member or separate customs territory in the process of acceding. Each participant incorporates the measures into its GATT 1994 schedule. By 1 March 1997 it provides a document on the duty treatment and the detailed HS headings for Attachment B; the review is to be completed no later than 1 April 1997. Unless otherwise agreed, tariffs are bound no later than 1 July 1997, the first rate reduction takes effect then, the second no later than 1 January 1998, the third no later than 1 January 1999, and elimination is completed no later than 1 January 2000. Other duties and charges are eliminated by 1 July 1997, except as otherwise specified in the participant's document.

Annex paragraph 4 provides for a meeting no later than 1 April 1997 to review acceptances. Participants implement the Declaration provided that those who have notified acceptance represent approximately 90 per cent of world trade in these products and that the staging has been agreed. Annex paragraph 10 opens the Annex for acceptance; acceptances are notified in writing to the Director-General. Those conditions were later met; the first reduction stage entered into force on 1 July 1997. Annex paragraph 3 requires periodic meetings under the auspices of the Council for Trade in Goods to review product coverage and to consult on non-tariff barriers.

It is not the Marrakesh Agreement of 15 April 1994, and not the expanded Information Technology Agreement concluded at Nairobi on 16 December 2015. It is not the Singapore Ministerial Declaration of the Conference itself, but the separate declaration on information technology products.

Image: Suntec City, Singapore; Zairon, 3 November 2015; CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Information Technology Agreement. Treaty text: Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products, Singapore, 13 December 1996.