WTO negotiations continue on e-commerce, consolidated text by Dec

World Trade Organization (WTO) members participating in the negotiation of rules on e-commerce have shared their updates on the work done to streamline the negotiating text at a plenary meeting.

At the meeting held last Friday, co-conveners Australia, Japan and Singapore encouraged members to propose constructive solutions and show flexibility to deliver a consolidated text by December this year, according to a WTO press release.

Facilitators of the small group discussions reported on the work done in between plenary meetings to further streamline text proposals on spam, source code, open government data, trade facilitation in goods, services market access, electronic signatures and authentication, and online consumer protection.

The co-conveners set common principles to make the work of small groups more efficient and consistent.

George Mina, Ambassador of the Australian Permanent Mission to the WTO, noted that reports from small groups are encouraging and that there is still work to be done. 

With only two months away from the deadline, he urged the participants to engage with each other informally, not only in small groups but also bilaterally, and to show flexibility wherever possible.

Ambassador Mina highlighted that Covid-19 has increased the urgency of developing global rules on digital trade and that these negotiations are seen as a key test for the WTO to respond to modern commercial realities. 

The co-conveners have set November 16 as a deadline for any new proposals to be submitted by participating members.

Ambassador Tan Hung Seng of Singapore encouraged members to propose constructive solutions as discussions intensify. 

Ambassador Kazuyuki Yamazaki of Japan said that it was important to make as much progress as possible and for the consolidated text to be comprehensive in reflecting issues proposed by members. 

The co-conveners plan to hold ambassador level consultations to discuss and hear members' views on the way forward between October 28 and 30. The next plenary session will be on November 5.

WTO negotiations on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce were launched in Davos in January 2019 with the participation of 76 members. The number of participating members now stands at 86. 

Throughout their negotiations, the co-conveners have encouraged members to consider the unique opportunities and challenges they face, including those of developing countries and least-developed countries, as well as of small businesses.