e-commerce

MC13: Abu Dhabi E-commerce moratorium linked to definitional discussion, stoking business fears

dlegge — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 00:16:49 +0000

MC13: Abu Dhabi E-commerce moratorium linked to definitional discussion, stoking business fears

28 February 2024

dlegge Thu, 29/02/2024 - 11:16

Author/s

Brett Fortnam

Inside US Trade

MC13: Abu Dhabi E-commerce moratorium linked to definitional discussion, stokin…

-- A deal to renew the World Trade Organization’s moratorium on electronic commerce duties likely will include language on an e-commerce work program requiring that members define the parameters of the temporary ban -- a move industry stakeholders fear could make future renewals even more difficult.

Negotiations on e-commerce will begin in earnest here at the 13th ministerial conference on Thursday -- the last scheduled day of a ministerial many expect will be extended one more day. New Zealand Trade Minister and MC13 Vice Minister Todd McClay told Inside U.S. Trade he believes the most likely outcome on e-commerce is that the moratorium is renewed in parallel with a work program that calls on members to clarify the moratorium’s definition by the next ministerial.

But many stakeholders here believe the moratorium’s renewal is only a 50-50 prospect, with some believing it might not be even that high.

McClay, the facilitator for the e-commerce negotiations, has been meeting bilaterally with delegations -- around 50 by Wednesday afternoon -- about their stances on the moratorium as well as the work program. Ministers at MC12 agreed to “reinvigorate” the work program, including by “intensifying discussions on the moratorium … including on scope, definition, and impact of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.”

“I think what’s fair to say is there is a degree of frustration -- that may be overstating it -- frustration that some of the issues around scope and definition and rules … haven’t been advanced as much as they might have been over the last two years,” McClay said. “Developing countries are very keen to have that as part of a work program to be delivered on.”

The idea that the moratorium must be clarified in any way is not universal, however. The moratorium has referred only to “electronic transmissions” for its entire 25-year existence without a more expansive definition, a European official noted. “That has been a source of enough legal certainty for countries not to impose such customs duties and we do not think that we need to necessarily enter into the discussion on the definition,” the official said.

The discussion about defining “electronic transmissions” is a Trojan horse that could allow for either exceptions to the moratorium to be introduced or for some countries to eventually do away with the moratorium entirely at future ministerials, according to industry sources.

One called the argument that the moratorium must be clarified “disingenuous.” Two others said any conditionality between defining “electronic transmissions” and renewing the moratorium would be “dangerous.” And, these sources agreed, linking an agreement on definition with the moratorium’s renewal could create a scenario in which a deadlock over the definition -- a likely prospect, as a handful of countries would push for a narrower interpretation than others -- would that mean the moratorium is not be renewed when that deadlock cannot be resolved at future ministerials, the sources contended.

Many stakeholders here believe the moratorium’s renewal will be harder to pull off than in years past, citing several new developments. For one, the U.S. has long been seen as the primary defender of the moratorium, but its willingness to continue to play that role is being questioned. U.S. stakeholders do not have as much confidence in the steadfastness of the U.S. position as in years past, several said. That lack of confidence stems in part from the Biden administration’s decision last October to withdraw its support from four digital trade proposals in the WTO joint statement initiative on e-commerce.

The administration has emphasized to stakeholders that its support for the e-commerce moratorium is unaffected by the change in its digital position. Several industry sources optimistic about the potential for the moratorium to be renewed described U.S. support as “unequivocal.”

But some industry sources have described what they view as a worrying trend -- the administration’s leaning into a warring narrative against “Big Tech,” which has led them to question just how much the administration cares about the moratorium.

“Does she really care about this issue?” asked Consumer Technology Association Vice President of International Trade Ed Brzytwa, referring to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

“The U.S. government has stated its support for the extension,” another industry stakeholder said. “But is it still as categorical as we’ve counted on it being? A stronger sense of support would have been nice.”

Other countries also are working harder to ensure the moratorium is not renewed, sources said. Indonesia, for instance, is a vocal opponent of renewal and has prepared for its eventual downfall. Jakarta has begun requiring that e-commerce operators, such as software importers, fill out customs declarations even though tariffs for e-commerce transmissions are set at zero.

In the days immediately before the ministerial, Indonesia signed on to two e-commerce proposals that show it is not backing down from its opposition -- South Africa’s push explicitly calling for the moratorium’s elimination and an Indian proposal that makes no mention of the moratorium.

“That’s worrisome,” said Pascal Kerneis, the managing director of the European Services Forum, the business group representing the EU services industry.

India, as always, is a wild card, pushing to let the moratorium lapse. Complicating that position is the parliamentary election campaign of Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, which kept him away from the ministerial’s first two days. Goyal is a member of the upper house of India’s parliament, elected by state legislatures. He is now running for a position in the lower house, elected by the people.

For Goyal to win election, he must appeal to nationalistic forces in India, according to Kerneis. The nationalistic appeal does not necessarily have to include the lapse of the moratorium, he said, but Goyal almost certainly will have to come away from Abu Dhabi with a tangible victory he can tout during his campaign, Kerneis added.

That possible need for a tangible victory has sparked industry fear about what the U.S. might put forward in exchange for the moratorium’s renewal -- if it offers anything. The moratorium has long been politically linked to another, on bringing non-violation dispute settlement cases under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property. But the utility of that link has been nullified by the dysfunctional dispute settlement system.

Even if the moratorium is renewed, some business groups worry about the potential cost. The e-commerce moratorium and work program have not been politically linked with other issues, at least not yet, but many suspect those linkages will come as the negotiations enter their final stages.

India’s stated priority at MC13 is a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security purposes, which many believe New Delhi could link to the moratorium. But it also might seek to link the moratorium to the fisheries deal or even an expansion of TRIPS flexibilities agreed to at MC12, sources said.

Many stakeholders, even as pessimism mounts, believe the moratorium will be renewed. India wants to increase its technology industry, one source said, contending that e-commerce duties would make it “uninvestable.” Kerneis pointed to a letter that more than 200 business groups, including ones in countries that have opposed the renewal of the waiver, have signed onto calling for the moratorium’s extension as a good sign.

Some industry sources cite other reasons for optimism, such as increased support from developing countries. The African, Caribbean and Pacific group, for instance, issued a proposal in support of the moratorium’s renewal. The proposal did include language calling for “further deliberations and gather empirical evidence on the scope, definition, and impact of the moratorium.”

But industry supporters of the moratorium repeatedly pointed to the ACP group proposal as positive sign -- both because more developing countries are on board and because it potentially undermines India’s ability to say it is standing up for the developing world.

The hand-wringing, however, will continue until the ministerial concludes

Keywords

e-commerce

TWN Briefings for 13th WTO Ministerial Conference

dlegge — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 03:20:20 +0000

TWN Briefings for 13th WTO Ministerial Conference

26 February 2024

dlegge Wed, 28/02/2024 - 14:20

Author/s

TWN

TWN Briefings for 13th WTO Ministerial Conference

Analysis of e-commerce JSI chairs’ text of 20 February 2024, INF/ECOM/85 Rev. 1 by Jane Kelsey
Agriculture and food security in MC13: Going forward or backward? by Ranja Sengupta
Dispute settlement reform: The informal process and the way forward after MC13 by Kinda Mohamadieh
Commentary on the draft text of the informal discussions on dispute settlement reform
Risks in trade as a solution for environmental problems by Abhijit Das
Comments on the investment facilitation framework: Are there real benefits to bringing it under the umbrella of the WTO? by Kinda Mohamadieh
Commentary on the investment facilitation text
Fishing subsidies negotiations towards MC13: Some key issues by Ranja Sengupta

Keywords

e-commerce

WTO Agriculture

WTO dispute settlement

WTO Fisheries

WTO Environment

WTO: MC13 gets underway amid tense negotiating climate

dlegge — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 02:56:06 +0000

WTO: MC13 gets underway amid tense negotiating climate

27 February 2024

dlegge Wed, 28/02/2024 - 13:56

Author/s

D. Ravi Kanth

TWN

WTO: MC13 gets underway amid tense negotiating climate

Amidst a tense negotiating climate, the fate of the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference (MC13), which commences on 26 February in Abu Dhabi, will be decided by three main issues among others, said people familiar with the development.

The three issues that could tilt the outcome at MC13 one way or the other are the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, the termination/extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, and the controversial proposal to integrate the proposed plurilateral agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) into the WTO rule book.

On 25 February, different coalitions held meetings including the G33 group of developing countries seeking the permanent solution for PSH and a special safeguard mechanism (SSM), the Cairns Group of farm-exporting countries, the Latin American Group led by Brazil and Ecuador seeking an ambitious work program on domestic support, and more importantly, the meeting of the members of the IFD initiative led by China, said people familiar with the discussions.

At the G33 meeting, a senior Indian commerce ministry official appears to have issued the strongest message yet that the mandated permanent solution on PSH must be concluded at MC13, said people familiar with the meeting.

The official warned that “it goes without saying that food security is national security. Besides, food security is considered a non-trade concern in the Agreement on Agriculture.”

The WTO’s Director-General, Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who appears to have been invited to attend the G33 meeting, seemingly abstained due to another engagement on digital trade and women organized by the Geneva- based International Trade Centre, said people familiar with the discussions.

It appears that the Nigerian trade minister also did not attend the G33 meeting raising suspicions whether he had been advised not to attend the meeting, said a G33 capital-based official, who asked not to be quoted.

At the same time, the DG’s presence at the IFD meeting appears to have raised serious questions as to why she chose to attend a meeting on a non-mandated issue, said a capital-based official, who asked not to be identified.

More importantly, the chair of MC13 attended the IFD meeting, which in normal circumstances would not have happened, said a member, who asked not to be quoted.

Trade ministers of the IFD initiative are expected to directly submit a proposal to the chair of MC13, Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, minister of state for foreign trade of the United Arab Emirates, for consideration at the open-ended meeting of trade ministers, a senior IFD official told the SUNS.

In all probability, the chair of MC13 will put it up for consideration, even though the issue has not been included in the agenda, said people familiar with the discussions.

In a related development, 126 countries, in the presence of the DG and the chair of MC13, seem to have gaveled the IFD agreement to be integrated into the Annex 4 schedule of the Marrakesh Agreement (dealing with the plurilateral agreements).

Now, the issue moves to MC13, first to decide on its admission into the agenda, which would require consensus, and then the final adoption following its admission into the agenda, said people familiar with the negotiations.

NGOs OPPOSE IFD

Meanwhile, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as a noted academic, called for stopping “the Illegitimate Anti-development Investment Facilitation Agreement Now!!”

In a press release issued on 25 February, representatives of non-governmental organizations including the Our World Is Not For Sale network, Transnational Institute, COSATU, as well as academic Prof. Jane Kelsey said the IFD agreement should only be decided by “consensus.”

“The convenors – South Korea and Chile, backed by China – have announced that plan, in the face of sustained objections from India and South Africa that these negotiations have no legitimacy,” the NGO representatives said.

According to the NGO representatives, “WTO Members have explicitly rejected attempts to get an investment agreement ever since 1996. A decision in 2004 said no discussion of investment negotiations in the WTO until the Doha round is over. It is not. In the 2015 Nairobi Ministerial Conference, WTO Members agreed that any such new issues will only be addressed if agreed by all Members.”

“Not only is there no mandate for these negotiations, there is a negative mandate. Countries who are trying to push this through at MC13 are breaching fundamental WTO rules”, said Deborah James, coordinator of the Our World is Not for Sale network.

She alleged that “we have heard hair-raising stories about pressure being brought at political levels in capital, often by-passing the trade officials who could analyze and provide informed advice on this”. Ms. James severely criticized the WTO DG for going far beyond her legitimate role “as an international public official,” who is legally required to be neutral.

In what New Zealand law professor Jane Kelsey condemned as “an appalling abuse of DG Ngozi’s position and mandate”, she said the DG attacked India and South Africa as depriving developing countries of the benefits of these agreements, when what they have been insisting on is that the WTO acts in accordance with its own rules.

“The long history of investment agreements shows this won’t address any of those issues. What countries really need is a commitment to actively facilitate investment to strategic sectors that countries need, and which is responsible and genuinely advances their development,” said Lucia Barcena from the Transnational Institute.

Finally, “we fear these dirty tactics will continue in the ministerial itself,” Ms James warned. “The IF agreement is not on the formal agenda, so how will they introduce it and block opposing Members from exposing the lack of consensus? Efforts to force it through will further undermine the WTO’s already shaky legitimacy,” she added.

“GREEN ROOM” MEETINGS

The controversial “green room” meetings may stage a comeback at MC13, said a trade official familiar with the development.

Asked whether “green room” meetings are going to begin on 27 February, the WTO spokesperson, Mr Ismail Dieng, remained non-committal but provided a schedule of meetings.

Mr Dieng provided the following “choreography” of the negotiations:

* To set the context for the working sessions that will start on Tuesday, 27 February, an Informal Heads of Delegation meeting, chaired by the Director-General, will take place in the morning of 27 February.

* Working sessions on the draft Abu Dhabi Ministerial Outcome Document, Agriculture, Development, Dispute Settlement Reform, E-commerce Work Programme and Moratorium, and Fisheries Subsidies will take place from 27-29 February. This does not preclude the possibility of a session or sessions on other matters, as appropriate.

* Each Working Session will be followed by Convergence Building Sessions to address unresolved issues that would have emerged and been identified at the Working Session. Ministers will also meet in various configurations, as needed, to build convergence amongst themselves on specific issues.

* For transparency purposes, at the end of each day, the MC13 Chairperson and the Director-General will convene a Heads of Delegation meeting. This will be the occasion to hear reports from the Convergence Building Sessions, outreach efforts and discussions throughout the day. The HoDs will also assist Ministers in their preparations for the sessions the following day.

Given the opposition to the “green room” meetings during MC12 held in Geneva in June 2022, it remains to be seen whether the controversial practice will be repeated all over again. As reported in SUNS #9613 dated 12 July 2022, the WTO DG faced considerable criticism from many countries on being excluded from the “green room” meetings.

At a heads of delegation (HoD) meeting on 7 July 2022, the DG had “pushed back” against complaints from dozens of WTO members over the lack of transparency and inclusivity in finalizing the decisions/declarations reached at MC12 that concluded in Geneva on 17 June 2022, said people familiar with the development.

At the HoD meeting, the DG went on to defend the process she adopted at MC12, insisting that the doors were open for any country to attend meetings in Room D (at the WTO headquarters, which has a capacity for more than 60 members), in the WTO library (which could accommodate around 40 members) and “green room” meetings (up to 20 members), said people, who asked not to be quoted.

At one point in her concluding intervention, she said that the “green room” meetings were open to all members, a comment that provoked members to laugh in apparent disbelief, said people, who preferred not to be quoted.

Interestingly, the DG did not mention the fact that members needed an invitation/pass to participate in small group and “green room” meetings, said people, who asked not to be quoted.

It remains to be seen whether “green room” meetings will be held on the main issues at MC13, said people, who asked not to be quoted. +

Keywords

e-commerce

WTO Investment facilitation for development

WTO Agriculture

Understanding the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

dlegge — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 02:43:48 +0000

Understanding the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

16 February 2024

dlegge Wed, 28/02/2024 - 13:43

Author/s

Rishab Bailey, Research Director, Digital Trade Alliance

Public Citizen

Understanding the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

The World Trade Organization (WTO) along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Bank (WB) published a report titled “Digital Trade for Development” in December 2023 that attempts to demonstrate the numerous benefits of electronic commerce. One of the issues the report deals with concerns the WTO’s moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, which is up for renewal at the WTO’s Thirteenth Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi in February 2024 (MC13). Unfortunately, the report provides a number of flawed findings in this respect. This note provides a quick overview of some of these flaws.

More here and PDF here

Keywords

e-commerce

What’s at Stake at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference This Month in Abu Dhabi?

dlegge — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 01:47:51 +0000

What’s at Stake at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference This Month in Abu Dhabi?

23 February 2024

dlegge Mon, 26/02/2024 - 12:47

Author/s

DEBORAH JAMES

CEPR

What’s at Stake at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference This Month in Abu Dhab…

rom February 26–29, 2024, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Governments from 164 countries will be joined by Timor-Leste and Comoros, the first two nations to join the group since 2017.

At stake is a fight between two visions of what role the WTO, as the world’s most powerful rule-making body in the global economy, should play.

Should the institution expand as an even more corporate-influenced body, with rich countries allowed to set agendas, impose negotiation mechanisms in their favor, and leave poorer countries — and multilateralism itself — in the dustbin of history?

Or should members of the institution recognize the constraints that the current rules place on developing economies, including the harm caused to workers, farmers, and the global environment, and increase flexibilities so that these countries can use trade for their development?

Ministerial Declaration

Debates over the Ministerial Declaration illustrate most clearly what is at stake. There are two primary assaults through which rich countries are attempting to take the WTO in a more pro-corporate and less multilateral direction. First, by changing the rules on how the WTO operates. Many developed countries, with support from the director-general, are attempting to make it even more responsive to corporate wishes and even less able for developing countries to have a fair shake at negotiations, under the rubric of “WTO reform” and the euphemism “Reform by Doing.” And second, by negotiating plurilateral agreements to replace multilateralism and requirements for consensus and impose an even more neoliberal order, notwithstanding developing-country resistance.

WTO “reform” has emerged as a key focus of WTO activities in recent years. But rather than make the institution more responsive to members’ needs for development policy space, the current efforts must be understood as hijacking the “reform” concept to eviscerate developing countries’ ability to bargain collectively.

Read more at: https://cepr.net/whats-at-stake-at-the-wtos-13th-ministerial-conference-this-month-in-abu-dhabi/

Keywords

WTO

WTO dispute settlement

WTO Development

WTO Investment facilitation for development

WTO Services domestic regulation

How ‘Digital Trade’ Rules Would Impede Taxation of the Digitalised Economy in the Global South

dlegge — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 01:06:44 +0000

How ‘Digital Trade’ Rules Would Impede Taxation of the Digitalised Economy in the Global South

13 August 2020

dlegge Mon, 26/02/2024 - 12:06

Author/s

TWN

How ‘Digital Trade’ Rules Would Impede Taxation of the Digitalised Economy in t…

Third World Network is pleased to announce the release of an important new report on how the trade rules being proposed in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other free trade agreements would impede the ability of governments from the Global South to tax the digitalised economy.

As countries struggle to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, on top of long-standing challenges that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to overcome, it will be essential to protect and grow their revenue base. In a highly digitalised global economy, that means neutralising the tax avoidance practices of digital multinational enterprises and securing a fair share of the profits from their income and activities. Yet, new rules on electronic commerce, and expansive interpretations of existing trade in services rules, could further deplete the tax base of countries in the Global South, stymie innovative tax strategies, and seriously undermine governments’ ability to fund their development needs and social obligations.

“The past decade has seen the significant expansion of trade rules that are designed to restrict the ability of governments to regulate the digitalised economy and to consolidate the dominance of existing MNEs. This new digital trade regime, which has already been adopted in some free trade agreements (FTAs) and is being proposed in the WTO, would exacerbate the harmful tax practices of MNEs within a deeply integrated digitalised economy. … These existing and proposed ‘digital trade’ rules could severely and permanently disadvantage developing countries by eroding their revenue base and constricting their policy space for digital development. It is a travesty that many of these new trade rules are now being promoted as a vehicle for development. Complementary rules have been proposed in the plurilateral negotiation by some WTO Members on ‘investment facilitation for development’, which also lacks a WTO mandate, and on disciplines on the domestic regulation of services.”

The report’s four co-authors Jane Kelsey, John Bush, Manuel Montes and Joy Ndubai have a vast experience in international taxation and international trade law between them.

Their report provides new analysis of how proposed trade rules would impact on the attempts by the Global South to close tax loopholes and level the playing field, with sections on:

The fiscal and digital industrialisation impacts of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions;
Constraints on and challenges to
- innovative measures to tax the income of digital corporations operating from offshore
- digital services taxes, value-added taxes and caps on related-party royalty payments
- reporting and disclosure regimes involving digital multinationals

How foreign states and Big Tech multinational corporations are empowered to challenge new digital taxes in the name of ‘transparency’.

The full report is available here: https://twn.my/title2/latestwto/general/News/Digital%20Tax.pdf

Keywords

e-commerce

WTO electronic commerce negotiations (draft chair’s text, 21 February 2024)

dlegge — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:55:29 +0000

WTO electronic commerce negotiations (draft chair’s text, 21 February 2024)

21 February 2024

dlegge Mon, 26/02/2024 - 11:55

Author/s

WTO

Bilaterals.Org

WTO electronic commerce negotiations (draft chair’s text, 21 February 2024)

Keywords

e-commerce

World trade cooperation will be put to the test in Abu Dhabi

dlegge — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:32:54 +0000

World trade cooperation will be put to the test in Abu Dhabi

25 February 2024

dlegge Mon, 26/02/2024 - 11:32

Author/s

DOUG PALMER, CAMILLE GIJS

Politico Pro

World trade cooperation will be put to the test in Abu Dhabi

Here’s a roundup of the issues at stake at the upcoming ministerial:

Fishing subsidies: The WTO reached a partial agreement at its last ministerial conference in June 2022 to curb subsidies that threaten the future of ocean fish supplies.

This time they are trying for a more comprehensive agreement that would hopefully have a much bigger impact on maintaining one of the world’s most important food stocks.

Of all the issues at stake in Abu Dhabi, officials are most hopeful about getting this negotiation over the line. “If there’s no agreement on fish at MC13, that’d be a tragedy,” one Geneva-based diplomat said.

For Okonjo-Iweala, the negotiation is proof the WTO is still relevant. “260 million people depend on fisheries for their livelihood, and the oceans are being overfished. [The question for ministers in Abu Dhabi is] can we save the oceans, be part of the regenerative blue economy and save jobs?” she told POLITICO in an interview.

Digital trade: One of the biggest achievements of the upcoming ministerial meeting could be maintaining a ban on the collection of tariffs on digital goods and other “electronic transmissions.”

The ban has been in place since 1998, but some member countries such as India, South Africa and Indonesia believe they are missing out on valuable tariff revenue because of streaming services that have largely replaced DVDs and CDs.

Supporters of the ban say the lost revenue is trivial compared to the cost of letting the moratorium expire, which they worry could open the door for tariffs on all sorts of data and transactions that cross borders over the internet.

Business groups also argue failure to renew the moratorium would be a major setback since it would be the first time the WTO has made a decision that makes it harder to trade.

“The majority of members want the extension but there are a few members who find it's a problem because they think it has an impact on revenues,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “Let's see what comes up from the negotiations. We were able to successfully extend the e-commerce moratorium” at the WTO’s 12 Ministerial Conference in June 2022.

Dispute settlement: The United States’ most meaningful move at the WTO in recent years was a negative one in 2019, when the Trump administration effectively killed the group’s powerful Appellate Body, which decided trade disputes between member countries, by blocking the appointment of new judges.

Trump officials charged the panel had gone too far in restricting how the United States could impose duties on goods it believes are unfairly priced or subsidized. Trump’s chief trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, called it “a colossal and tragic failure” in a recent book.

But most other members want to see the Appellate Body restored so they can appeal lower panel decisions that they believe are mistaken.

Some progress could be made in Abu Dhabi, but Biden administration officials have been clear they see the end of 2024 — after the U.S. presidential election — as the real deadline for reaching an agreement to reinstate some sort of judicial function.

Food security: In what has become a regular feature of recent WTO ministerials, India wants its anti-hunger program to be permanently protected against a challenge that it violates the country’s cap on trade-distorting farm subsidies.

It won a temporary peace agreement in 2013, but major agricultural exporters, including the United States, are increasingly frustrated by the way India operates its food security program, particularly for heavily-traded commodities such as rice and wheat.

India has threatened to block progress on all other issues at the upcoming ministerial unless an agreement on its public stockholding is reached. That puts tremendous pressure to accommodate India’s demand or risk having a failed ministerial.

Covid-19 treatment patent waivers: WTO members could also face a decision on whether to waive intellectual property protections for Covid-19 therapeutics and diagnostics. That would open the door for developing country manufacturers to make generic versions of Paxlovid and other treatments, as well as test kits and assorted other products.

But with Covid-19 feeling like a problem of the past for some, expectations of a deal are very low.

South Africa, India and other developing countries have pushed for the decision after winning a waiver for Covid-19 vaccines at MC13. The Biden administration has avoided taking a public position on the issue, which is fiercely opposed by the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and the business community more broadly, but supported by groups on the left.

The WTO committee in charge of discussing intellectual property rights recently told the WTO General Council that it had been unable to reach agreement on the issue after more than 18 months of discussion. That could signal the end of the road for efforts to expand the waiver, but pharmaceutical industry officials fear it could still be approved by ministers at MC13 as part of the final horse-trading that occurs to reach some deal.

WTO accessions: One bright spot on the meeting’s agenda is the accession of two new members, Comoros and Timor-Leste, to the WTO. They will be the first new members since Liberia and Afghanistan joined in July 2016.

The combined population of the two countries is less than 2.5 million, so the accessions won’t mean much to world trade. Timor-Leste is the larger of the two, with an estimated population of about 1.3 million in 2021, while Comoros has less than 900,000 people.

Another 22 countries are currently negotiating the WTO, another statistic Okonjo-Iweala cites to refute talk that the group is becoming irrelevant. The number of applicants “speaks for itself in terms of the organization and the way that people and countries see it,” she said.

Keywords

WTO dispute settlement

e-commerce

Understanding the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

dlegge — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:28:49 +0000

Understanding the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

16 February 2024

dlegge Mon, 26/02/2024 - 11:28

Author/s

Rishab Bailey, Research Director, Digital Trade Alliance

Public Citizen

Understanding the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

Keywords

e-commerce

Fact Sheet: WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

dlegge — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 00:26:25 +0000

Fact Sheet: WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

16 February 2024

dlegge Mon, 26/02/2024 - 11:26

Author/s

Public citizen

Public Citizen

Fact Sheet: WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions

The World Trade Organization’s Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions (the “Moratorium”) prohibits members from imposing customs duties on “electronic transmissions.” While the term “electronic transmissions” is undefined, the Moratorium in essence implies that countries are forbidden from imposing import taxes on business-to-consumer and business-to-business transactions that take place across borders over the Internet. The Moratorium therefore encompasses cross-border trade in a range of digital goods and services, including software; digital movies, music, and video games; and online legal, banking or business consultancy services.[1]

Keywords

e-commerce