The World Trade Organisation has decided to uphold claims from Japan, the United States and Taiwan that the European Union scrap tariffs on flat-panel displays and other information technology products, sources familiar with the matter has said.

The WTO's dispute settlement panel has ruled in a preliminary report that the EU tariffs on the products, which also include multifunctional printers and TV set-top boxes, violate the global trade organisation's Information Technology Agreement, the sources said yesterday.

No other details of the ruling were immediately known, they said, but added that the panel is expected to issue a final report on the dispute by the end of September after hearing opinions from member countries.

EU customs authorities impose import duties of 6 to 14 per cent on the products. Trade sources said the European Union argues that the products involved are not covered by the WTO agreement, which calls for dropping tariffs on products peripheral to personal computers and most other information technology products.

The tariffs imposed on the EU-bound Japanese exports concerned with the dispute amounted to roughly USD 2 million as of 2008, they said.