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Contents
> Director-General’s letter to journalists
> The Doha Development Agenda
> Agriculture
> Cotton
> Services
> Market access, non-agricultural products
> Intellectual property (TRIPS)
> Trade facilitation
> Rules: ad, scm including fisheries subsidies
> Rules: regional agreements
> Dispute settlement
> Trade and environment
> Small economies
> Trade, debt and finance
> Trade and technology transfer
> Technical cooperation
> Least-developed countries
> Special and differential treatment
> Implementation issues
> electronic commerce
> Members and accessions
> Members
> Bananas
> Statistics, Textiles and Clothing
> Statistics, Facts and Figures
> Jargon buster, Country groupings
> Jargon buster, An informal guide to ‘WTOspeak’
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The Doha decision back to top
At the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha in 2001
ministers agreed to continue the work programme as well as to extend the moratorium
on customs duties. At the Fifth Ministerial in Cancún in 2003, ministers reaffirmed
the elements agreed at Doha.
Discussions back to top
The following is a summary of the issues that have
emerged from the work programme on electronic commerce since 1998, and from
dedicated discussions held under the auspices of the General Council since
2002:
Downloadable products
A difference of views persists on whether certain downloadable
products (e.g. software, the texts of books) should be classified as goods
or services. Until the advent of the internet these products (e.g. software
on CD-ROMs) were delivered by conventional physical means, and they crossed
borders in the form of packaged goods, which are covered by the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). With the advent of electronic commerce and the
transmission of digital versions of these products through the internet the
question arose as to whether they should be treated as goods, subject to GATT
rules, or as services subject to the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS). More recently, it was suggested that provisions of both agreements
may apply in certain circumstances.
The prevailing perception in the Council
for Trade in Goods is that WTO provisions in the goods area can be relevant
for electronic transmissions so far as the content of these transmissions
can be qualified as goods. In the GATS Council there is a general view that
the
General Agreement on Trade in Services does not distinguish between technological
means of supplying a service, and that its provisions may apply to the supply
of services by electronic means.
E-commerce and development
The Committee on Trade and Development considered it
important to keep track of developments in e-commerce in relation to the interests
and concerns of developing countries. In this connection, the CTD discussed
relevant issues and organized seminars on the revenue implications of e-commerce
(2002), government facilitation of e-commerce (2001) and e-commerce and development
(1999).
Intellectual property rights
In the TRIPS Council, Members felt that the novelty
and complexity of the intellectual property issues arising from electronic
commerce were such that further study was required by the international community.
It was noted, however, that a secure and predictable legal environment for
intellectual property rights would foster the development of electronic commerce.
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Other material:
> Electronic commerce
> Doha declaration
> Doha declaration
explained
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