Talks in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on broadening the scope of the Information Technology Agreement continue to be deadlocked after eleven days of negotiations. The product coverage of the existing agreement has not been updated since 1996, despite the vast increase in ICT products since that date, and the ITA is therefore in need of reform. If the agreement could be expanded to cover new products such as global positioning systems, video game consoles and flat panel displays there could be an estimated USD 190 billion boost to world trade. It is now unlikely that the new agreement will be concluded before the meeting of the ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries in May 2014.
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