The World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel Report has ruled the European Union (EU) violated the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), an agreement to which the Philippines is a founding signatory, after it imposed tariffs of as much as 14 percent on products such as flat panel displays and multifunctional printers and machines which were supposed to have zero duties under the ITA.

This was according to a report submitted by Philippine Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Manuel Teehankee to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo.

Ambassador Teehankee explained that "the Philippines had a strong interest in the case, being the 10th largest IT supplier to the European Union with value of its exports to the EU standing at $5.4 billion and the Philippines therefore joined the case as a third party complainant, in support of the main complaints of the United States, Japan and Chinese Taipei.”

Earlier, the Philippine private sector, through the Semiconductors Association of the Philippines, strongly endorsed the complaints against the EU. The cases were officially designated WTO DS 375, 376, and 377.