The Russian Federation acceded to the Information Technology Agreement as its 78th member in September. The chairman of the World Trade Organization’s Information Technology Agreement committee agreed to accept Russia as a member following the country’s revision of certain tariff obligations that received the approval of other members.

Roberto Azevedo, the Director General of the World Trade Organization, indicated that Russia’s accession to the Information Technology Agreement is a significant initiative that will aid the country’s IT companies. In the view of the Director General, other member-countries covered by the Information Technology Agreement will also benefit from reduced costs for both individual and commercial end users.

As a component of the package of WTO commitments, the Russian side committed to lessening tariffs on hi-tech products to zero from the level of 5.4 percent, where it is now. Additionally, Russia took upon itself the obligation to join the Information Technology Agreement that mandates eliminating tariffs for approximately 180 different hi-tech goods, including computers, telecom equipment, and semiconductors. Earlier in June, the United States Trade Representative objected to the effect that Russia’s Information Technology Agreement draft schedule did not include certain of those tariff listings.

At the present moment, nearly 50 member-countries that are joined in the Information Technology Agreement are lobbying to include into the coverage range of the multilateral treaty over 200 other innovative goods. Russia, for its part, exported some USD1 billion of information technology products in 2012, even as it imported nearly USD20 billion of IT goods.