E-commerce Talks Progress, Aim at Issuing a Revised Negotiating Text by End-2022

· Participants launched a new small group discussion on information and communication technology (ICT) products that use cryptography.

· Small group meetings were held on an electronic transactions framework, e-invoicing, cybersecurity, privacy and telecommunications.

· The total number of WTO members participating in the e-commerce initiative is 87.

Co-conveners of the e-commerce discussions — Japan, Australia and Singapore — held a series of meetings from 25 to 28 October to advance the negotiations, building on previous efforts to reach convergence, with the target of issuing a revised consolidated text by the end of 2022.

In his introductory remarks, one of the co-convenors, Ambassador Mina of Australia, stated that the coming weeks are critical for the negotiations, adding: "This text will showcase the good progress we’ve made across the agreement. It will make it clear to negotiators … where the energy in these negotiations is currently concentrated and which provisions are moving forward."

Over the four days of meetings, participants launched a new small group discussion on information and communication technology (ICT) products that use cryptography. Other small group meetings were held on an electronic transactions framework, e-invoicing, cybersecurity, privacy and telecommunications. In addition, two stocktaking sessions took place while a seminar on "The Importance of Data Protection & Privacy for Consumer Trust" was organized by Consumers International and the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC).

Participants also heard a presentation by the WTO Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation, which outlined the technical assistance provided by the WTO Secretariat.

The facilitators of the small group discussions also reported on work done between plenary meetings to further streamline text proposals.

Background

At the 11th Ministerial Conference in December 2017, a like-minded group of members issued a joint statement to initiate exploratory work towards future WTO negotiations on trade-related aspects of e-commerce. Currently, the total number of WTO members participating in the e-commerce initiative is 87.