WTO STRUGGLES TO DEFINE E-COMMERCE CONTROLS

WTO STRUGGLES TO DEFINE E-COMMERCE CONTROLS    The World Trade Organization is still grappling with the development of electronic commerce and what measures, if any, government should take in the future to oversee the exchanges of goods and services through the Internet.
   In 1999, the WTO ministerial meeting launched the development of the Electronic Commerce Work Program. The 144 members of the WTO also agreed to a moratorium on customs duties on Internet-based transactions.
   The work program reviews four areas concerning Internet transactions: goods, services, intellectual property rights, and the impact of the Internet business on developing countries.
   In the goods area, work program members are considering a number of trade issues, such as whether rules of origin and import licensing requirements apply. “We don’t know, but we’re looking into it,” said Denby Probst, counselor to the WTO, at a World Customs Organization/International Chamber of Commerce meeting in Brussels.
   “There are huge cross-cutting issues” regarding e-commerce transactions, Probst said. These issues include classification, imposition of customs duties and the relationship between e-commerce and traditional forms of commerce in the Internet-based business environment.
   The WTO’s recent Doha Ministerial Declaration continues to promote the working group, and WTO members still refrain from imposing taxes and duties on electronic commerce transactions.
   A WTO General Council meeting will be held early this year to determine the best “institutional arrangement” for taking the Electronic Commerce Work Program forward, Probst said.