CUSTOMS UNION : HIGH-TECH INDUSTRY DENOUNCES NEW TAXES ON MULTI-PURPOSE DEVICES.

• Position: Brief article

The European Commission aims to allay the anxiety of the new technologies industry, which criticises the bills on customs on entry into the EU for high-tech products of mobile telephony, such as GPS and mobile television.

"Mobile phones are currently exempt from customs duty and will remain so in the future in the EU," they stress in the Customs Union service of the EU executive. However, "certain mobile telephones have recently developed multiple purposes, such as digital personal assistant, camera, GPS, radio and television". According to the Commission, it would therefore be appropriate to classify these products in the category for multi-purpose devices, including mobile telephony', because they largely exceed the category for mobile phones'. The Commission and the representatives from member states will talk about this customs classification for multi-purpose devices, on 10 and 11 December 2008 in Brussels.

EICTA, the European...