By mid-August, the World Trade Organization (WTO) may rule on a complaint lodged by Taiwan, the United States and Japan against the European Union over tariffs levied on certain information technology (IT) products, Taiwan's permanent representative to the WTO, said Wednesday. At an interpellation session in the Legislative Yuan, Lin Yi-fu noted that in 2008 Taiwan joined the U.S. and Japan in filing the complaint against the EU for imposing duties on flat-screen computer monitors, cable set-top boxes and computer printers. The EU, as a signatory to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) , had agreed to eliminate customs duties and other duties and charges on IT products, he said. Imposing custom duties on these products is a violation of the WTO agreement, Lin told lawmakers. As a leading global supplier of flat-panel displays, Taiwan is highly concerned about tariffs on this line of products, he added. Usually, it takes the WTO about 15 months to process a complaint, starting with consultations, then moving to the formation of a dispute settlement panel and the preparation of a final report by the panel, which is then submitted to the two sides. According to Lin, the final report would become the WTO's ruling on the issue within 60 days unless it is rejected by both sides. Forecasting that the final report will be ready by mid-August, Lin said he is optimistic about the outcome. 