View source for Engineering:Information Technology Agreement

{{Infobox treaty
| name                = Information Technology Agreement
| long_name           =
| image               =
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| caption             =
| type                =
| date_drafted        =
| date_signed         = {{Start date|1996|12|13|df=y}}
| location_signed     =
| date_sealed         = 
| date_effective      = 1 July 1997
| condition_effective =
| date_expiration     =
| signatories         =
| parties             =
| ratifiers           =
| depositor           = [[Organization:World Trade Organization|World Trade Organization]]
| language            =
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}}
[[Image:Information Technology Agreement.png|thumb|right|350px|Information Technology Agreement parties<ref>[http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_E/inftec_e/itscheds_e.htm INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: SCHEDULES OF CONCESSIONS]</ref>]]

The '''Information Technology Agreement''' ('''ITA''') is a plurilateral agreement enforced by the [[Organization:World Trade Organization|World Trade Organization]] (WTO) and concluded in the ''Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products'' in 1996, and entered into force 1 July 1997. Since 1997 a formal Committee under the WTO watches over the following of the Declaration and its Implementations.<ref name="intro">{{cite web |url=http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_E/inftec_e/itaintro_e.htm |title=Information Technology Agreement — introduction |publisher=World Trade Organization |access-date=4 August 2010}}</ref> The agreement was expanded in 2015.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Winslett|first=Gary|date=2017|title=Critical Mass Agreements: The Proven Template for Trade Liberalization in the WTO|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-trade-review/article/critical-mass-agreements-the-proven-template-for-trade-liberalization-in-the-wto/1411D2BF2BAC8046E2A45EE23B316CB7|journal=World Trade Review|volume=17|issue=3|pages=405–426|doi=10.1017/S1474745617000295|issn=1474-7456}}</ref>

The aim of the treaty is to lower all taxes and tariffs on [[Engineering:Information technology|information technology]] products by signatories to zero.<ref name="intro"/>

According to a 2017 study in the ''World Trade Review'', the 2015 ITA expansion is "the most successful attempt at trade liberalization under the auspices of the WTO since its inception in 1995."<ref name=":0" /> The study credits the success of the negotiations to four factors: "a narrower scope without a single undertaking approach, a negotiating group that contained many but not all WTO members, a focus on tariffs rather than non-tariff barriers, and avoiding a nationalistic opposition."<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Citation | url = http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_E/inftec_e/inftec_e.htm | title = Information Technology Agreement | publisher = WTO}}.
* {{Citation | url = http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_E/inftec_e/itscheds_e.htm | title = ITA Schedules of Concessions | publisher = WTO}}.
* {{cite web |url= http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/itadec_e.pdf |title= Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products | date = 13 December 1996 | publisher = World Trade Organization | location = Singapore | access-date = 4 August 2010 | type = text of the declaration}}


[[Category:Information technology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Information Technology Agreement|1}}