|
|
|
Email this citationCIAO DATE: 04/05
WTO, E-commerce, and Information Technologies: From the Uruguay Round through the Doha Development Agenda
Sacha Wunsch-Vincent
November 2004
Abstract
Although much of the early Internet hype has faded, e-commerce continues to grow and spread around the world. In recent years, the potential and importance of e-commerce to the economies and industries of the developing world has become particularly evident. Yet as e-commerce develops into a global phenomenon, the need for rules and principles facilitating e-commerce has become increasingly evident, too.
The search for these rules and principles is taking place in a number of different places, including the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO is the exclusive forum for negotiating and enforcing global rules governing cross-border trade in goods and services. The WTO does not aim to directly “regulate” e-commerce. But the application of its rules-based trading system to goods, services, and intellectual property facilitate and determine the physical, human, and legal infrastructure for e-commerce to a large extent.
Many conversations and debates have already taken place in the WTO about e-commerce and trade in information and communications technologies (IT). Many issues remain outstanding, particularly those regarding the involvement and interests of developing nations. As with trade rules in general, the search for a global set of principles to manage e-commerce has proven difficult, and often contentious. The needs and demands of developing and developed nations are often at odds. In many cases, the difficulties and disagreements can be attributed to the difficulty of the issues involved.
The purpose of this paper is in large part to take stock and explain most of the IT- and ecommerce- related WTO issues. It provides a historical overview of the WTO’s role with regard to e-commerce and IT trade between 1995 and 2003. It provides contextual background of and a detailed insight into the complex set of existing rules, categories and debates. Its aim is to inform the representatives of developing nations, civil society, and others who want or need to understand more about the WTO’s role in Information Technology governance and policy.
Three key questions are addressed throughout the paper:
(a) How has the WTO approached e-commerce so far, and what results have been achieved?
(b) How can e-commerce be deconstructed into “baskets” of IT goods and services to clarify the issues at stake?
(c) How are the interests of developing nations included and addressed in the WTO’s current approach to e-commerce?
