The European Union and 47 other members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have decided to launch plurilateral negotiations on electronic commerce at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday 25 January.
The United States (see EUROPE 12169) and China are among them.
According to the Commission, plurilateral rules on electronic commerce, which could eventually lead to a multilateral legal framework, would increase trade opportunities while addressing the challenges in both developed and developing countries. They could thus "provide a predictable, effective and safe online environment for trade”, according to Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.
"Historical morning in Davos, as 75 countries launch negotiations on e-commerce at the WTO", she was pleased to announce the same day via Twitter, adding: "It shows that the WTO can take on the challenges of the 21st century. "
The Commission has also announced the launch of talks for March 2019, but has not confirmed whether there are written proposals at this stage.
Reticence from developing countries
The last two decades have seen an exponential growth in national and cross-border electronic commerce. However, despite the rapid increase in electronic transactions, the 164 WTO members have failed to align their objectives to develop new multilateral rules - their last failure dating back to the 2017 ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires (see EUROPE 11926).
A number of developing countries, mainly in Africa, are concerned that opening their markets to international competition could undermine their regulatory flexibility and negatively affect local businesses.
At this stage, there is only one multilateral work programme on electronic commerce, launched in 1998, committing WTO members to a moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions. In the meantime, the proliferation of electronic commerce provisions therefore occurs within the context of bilateral free trade agreements, encouraging the 75 countries to engage in plurilateral discussions on the subject.
The establishment of rules on electronic commerce, which encompasses the production, distribution, marketing, sale or delivery of goods and services through electronic means, is a matter of various forms of services, which must be addressed by the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
Joint statement - and signatory countries (EN): http://bit.ly/2CN7obm. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)