Led by Australia, Japan and Singapore, a group of 70 WTO nations, including the 28 EU member states and the United States, pledged on the fringes of the 11th WTO ministerial conference in Buenos Aires on Wednesday 13 December, to set up exploratory work ahead of future WTO negotiations on e-commerce.
Volunteer group making up 75% of world trade. These 70 countries include nations from the OECD, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Mercosur plus Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, several Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar), ASEAN (Brunei and the area's three less developed countries-Burma, Cambodia and Laos), Hong Kong, Taiwan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Nigeria. They account for more than 75% of world trade.
In a joint declaration, they say they share the objective of advancing electronic trade at the WTO in order to make better use of possibilities, going on to list the opportunities and challenges faced by developing countries in particular especially for small and micro enterprises in this domain, along with less advanced nations.
Stressing the important role of the WTO in promoting open regulatory frameworks that are transparent, non-discriminatory and predictable in order to facilitate electronic trade, they say that the group will carry out exploratory work the head of future WTO negotiations on e-commerce.
Participation in the group will be open to all WTO members and will not prejudice the positions taken by the participants in future negotiations, explains the declaration. The first meeting will take place in the first quarter of 2018.
"Modern trade will increasingly be by e-commerce. At a time when the role of the WTO is being called into question, this e-commerce initiative reinforces how the WTO adds value. We need to ensure international trade rules keep up with how trade is conducted in the digital area," commented Australian minister Steven Ciobo.
Winning over India, African nations and less developed nations. Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said: "E-commerce presents developing members and LDCs (least developed countries) an opportunity to leapfrog, overcome traditional market barriers, and allow for more inclusive participation in global trade."
"Historic moment at #MC11 & an uplifting counterpoint to the gloom here - a full 70 countries join forces to make @WTO take a role in properly addressing digital trade. Only common rules, commitments can help us reap full benefits of #ecommerce. It affects ALL aspects of our trade,; said Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström.
The 70 nations will need to convince the other WTO members to enter negotiations. India the African group and less developed nations oppose any negotiations on this subject because the Doha talks are not yet complete.
A key platform for SMEs. Invited by the WTO director, Roberto Azevêdo, to the launch on the fringes of a conference in Buenos Aires on Monday 11 December of an initiative arranged with the WTO and the World Economic Forum to promote e-commerce, the head of hina’s Alibaba and representative of the e-World Trade Platform (eWTP), Jack Ma, called for better updating of policies in terms of electronic trade for SMEs.
Ma told reporters: "The problem with globalisation is that its benefits have not been made available to all. We cannot stop globalisation, we must improve it. If businesses and government work together, we can create a more inclusive trade model to expand the benefits of globalisation to those who have been left behind. The Enabling e-commerce initiative, he added, envisions a world where small businesses, young people and developing countries can succeed in global marketplace.’
Azevêdo stressed the stimulating role of electronic trade for small businesses around the world: ‘The vibrant debate on these issues has shown the desire of many WTO members to bridge the digital divide, and to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities of e-commerce.’
Risk of greater domination by web giants. Swiss NGO Alliance Sud warns of the dangers of unrestricted liberalisation of electronic trade, which would boost the dominance of American web giants such as Google and Facebook or Chinese web giant Alibaba.
In a proposal on electronic trade submitted for negotiations for a multilateral agreement on services (TiSA) or for the EU-United States free trade negotiations (TTIP) and at the WTO in 2016, the United States called for a ban on customs duty on digital products and for the duty to store data in the country, says Alliance Sud.
The NGO explains that the Americans wanted to give multinationals such as Google and Facebook the right to comment in advance on any planned laws and regulations. The NGO notes the risk here of damaging states sovereign ability to regulate and defend the private sphere and also their ability to keep room for manoeuvre for development.
European business lobby BusinessEurope backs the cross-border transfer of data and the ban on the duty to store data in countries, as it explained in a letter to the European Commission on 30 October 2017, adds Alliance Sud. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)