WTO accepts request of India, Taipei to defer ICT import duty dispute ruling until Oct 2026

New Delhi: The WTO's dispute settlement body has agreed to India's and Taiwan's request to defer the adoption of a ruling against New Delhi's import duties on certain information and technology products till October 2026, as both sides are engaged in resolving the matter mutually, an official said on Tuesday.

The request was made during a meeting of the WTO's dispute settlement body (DSB) in Geneva on April 21.

"India and Chinese Taipei again requested additional time for the DSB to consider for adoption the panel report circulated on 17 April 2023 in the case initiated by Chinese Taipei regarding India's tariffs on certain high-tech goods," the Geneva-based trade official said.

The two sides stated that they sought to continue engagement with each other for a resolution of this dispute.

"The parties asked that the DSB further delay consideration of the panel report until 27 October 2026. The DSB agreed. Prior to this, the DSB had agreed to eight previous requests from India and Chinese Taipei to delay consideration of the reports," the official said.

As per the WTO rules, the panel's ruling will have to be adopted by the DSB for implementation. However, countries can mutually request the body to delay the adoption of the ruling if they are engaged in the resolution of the issue through negotiations.

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, including telephones for cellular networks, machines for reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data; and parts of telephone sets, violate global trading norms.

The ruling followed a case filed by these countries against these duties in the WTO.

Earlier, India 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 the 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.