India, Taipei Delay WTO Ruling on ICT Import Duties

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) India and Chinese Taipei have requested the WTO's dispute settlement body not to adopt the ruling against New Delhi's import duties on certain information and technology products till October 24 this year, as both sides are engaged in resolving the matter mutually.

The issue will come up during a meeting of the dispute settlement body (DSB) in Geneva on April 25, a WTO (World Trade Organisation) communication said.

"The DSB agreed to the latest requests from Chinese Taipei and India," a Geneva-based official said.

The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu and India would like to request that the DSB adopt the decision with respect to the dispute India – Tariff Treatment on Certain Goods in the Information and Communications Technology Sector at a meeting of the DSB to be held on April 25.

"We (India and these customs territories) consider that the draft DSB decision, if adopted, would facilitate the resolution of the dispute," it said.

They have requested not to accept the ruling till October 24, 2025.

The dispute settlement body had earlier agreed to six such requests from India and Chinese Taipei to delay consideration of the reports. As per the WTO rules, the panel's ruling will have to be adopted by the DSB for implementation within 60 days of the release of the order. However, countries can mutually request the body to delay the adoption of the ruling.

In its report, a dispute panel of the WTO on April 17, 2023, said import duties imposed by India on certain information and technology products violate global trading norms.

The ruling followed a case filed by the EU, Japan and Taiwan against these duties in the WTO.

In May 2019, Chinese Taipei filed a case against India in the WTO over the import duties imposed on certain electronic goods, including telephones for cellular networks; machines for reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data; and parts of telephone sets.

India has stated that these ICT products are part of the WTO's Information Technology Products (ITA-2) agreement, and New Delhi is not a part of this pact. India is a part of ITA-1, signed in 1997, which did not have any obligation to eliminate customs duties on these products.

Besides formulating norms for global exports and imports, the Geneva-based 166-member multilateral body adjudicates trade disputes among the member countries.

According to WTO rules, a member country can file a case in the organisation if it feels that a particular trade measure is against the norms.

Bilateral consultation is the first step to resolving a dispute. If both sides are not able to resolve the matter through consultation, either of them can approach the establishment of a dispute settlement panel.

The panel's ruling or report can be challenged at WTO's appellate platform.

Interestingly, the appellate body is not functioning because of differences among member countries in appointing its members. Several disputes are already pending with this body. The US has been blocking the appointment of the members.