WTO rules in Taiwan's favor over EU

Because of the complexity of the matter and the fact that the proceedings involved three complainants, the panel could not complete its work within the stipulated six months from the date of its Sept. 23, 2008 formation, economics officials said.

During the dispute-solving process, however, some EU states stopped levying duty not only on products covered in the case, but also on other controversial products such as cell phones that can be used as TV sets and global positioning system devices.

The officials said one difficulty in the case lies in the fact that the products at the center of the dispute had not been developed in 1994, so were not specifically addressed in the 1994 agreement.

Noting that Taiwan exported NT$140 billion-worth of the LCD panels involved in the dispute, a local analyst said that the tariff savings will be especiallyimportantas Europeanconsumers' purchasing power has been seriously dented by the recent depreciation of the euro.

The case highlights the difficulty in keeping regulations up to date with rapidly developing technologyand is being closely monitored by other countries, as it is the first case under the Information Technology Agreement and is poised to set a precedent for other new information technology products.

Taiwan churned out NT$1.34 trillion-worth of LCDs in 2009, representing a 17 percent plunge from the previous year. The industry is expected to expand by 8.2 percent this year to NT$1.45 trillion, according to statisticscompiled by the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

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