Canada Tables E-commerce “Communication” at WTO, Wants Bank Account of Counterfeiters Sealed

At the WTO’s Tenth Ministerial Conference in December 2015, ministers agreed to continue the work programme on e-commerce, which was first adopted under the General Council in September 1998.

Discussions on this work programme are conducted under four WTO bodies – the Council for Trade in Services, the Council for Trade in Goods, the TRIPS Council, and the Committee on Trade and Development – with these then reporting back to the General Council.

Along with directing members to continue their work, ministers in Nairobi instructed the WTO General Council to hold periodic reviews of the work programme’s progress based on the updates from these bodies, with such reviews scheduled for July and December of this year, as well as July 2017.

In this context, Canada circulated a communication in May proposing that members be allowed “an opportunity to share national experiences and practices on intellectual property and e-commerce issues.”

Pursuant to this idea, Canada reportedly described its experience implementing its “Project Chargeback” initiative, which fights the online sale of counterfeit goods by closing counterfeiters’ retail accounts in collaboration with credit card companies and banks.

Sources said many members spoke in favour of Canada’s suggestion, with Switzerland, the US, Chinese Taipei, and Brazil emphasising the importance of regulating e-commerce, especially given its growth since it was last considered by the TRIPS Council in 2003.

In particular, the intersection of intellectual property and e-commerce has greatly increased, with many goods and services – such as books, music, pictures, and software – protected by intellectual property rights now traded online. Furthermore, the mechanisms through which e-commerce takes place are often protected by intellectual property rights, such as patents, integrated circuit designs, and trade secrets, among others.

Brazil suggested that one key guideline underlies the overall policy discussion in this area – namely that rights usually protected outside the digital arena should also be protected within it. It was underscored by Brazil “that the territoriality of copyright and related rights, consumer protection, data protection, and the right to privacy must be incorporated in the digital environment.”

However, some members reportedly preferred that e-commerce be included on an ad hoc basis, rather than as a standing item, with India reportedly suggesting that the sharing of best practices in e-commerce be done on an exploratory basis.

According to one source, the EU stated that it had a great deal of information to share on the topic of e-commerce and that its own E-Commerce Directive, which was implemented in 2000, has many intellectual property provisions. The EU reportedly also said that it will make a number of proposals this year regarding online infringements of intellectual property rights.