Russia said it will include duty-free treatment for products covered...

Russia said it will include duty-free treatment for products covered by the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) as part of its package of agreements for joining the trade organization, an official said after a regular WTO meeting on the agreement. Russia intends to join the ITA when it joins the WTO, as a way to encourage its information technology sector, he said. It will submit a schedule of commitments in the coming weeks for its Protocol of Accession, he said. The U.S. said the commitment was reflective of Russia’s interest in fully integrating with other WTO members, he said. Japan and Taiwan also welcomed Russia’s announcement, he said. The EU in a paper reiterated its proposal to expand the coverage of products and the number of participants under the ITA, he said. The EU said an agreement to cut tariffs on information technology gear as part of an ITA was now more likely than in the stalled Doha Round of trade talks, he said. Non-tariff barriers in the information technology sector could also be discussed in the committee, he said. The Philippines, Japan and the U.S. said they were still studying the EU paper, the official said. The U.S. said some companies have concerns about EU’s compliance with recent WTO dispute rulings on IT products, he said.