./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/W/95
29 July 1998
(98-3012)
Original:  English
GLOBAL ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Communication from the United States
The following communication dated 8 July 1998 has been received from the delegation of the
United States with the request that it be circulated for information of Members.
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The second session of the Ministerial Conference adopted a Declaration on electronic
commerce that directs the General Council, by its meeting in special session on September 23, 1998,
to establish a comprehensive work program to ex amine all trade-related issues relating to global
electronic commerce and, by the third session of the Ministerial Conference in 1999, to produce a
report on the progress of the work program and any recommendations for action.
The following outline is suggested as guidance on the establishment of the work program.
I. To establish the comprehensive work program, the General Council would:
(1) Direct the following WTO bodies to undertake work on electronic commerce: the
Council on Trade in Goods, Council on Trad e in Services, Council on Trade-Related
Intellectual Property, and Committee on Trade and Development (including
appropriate subsidiary committees or bodies).
(2) In accordance with Article IV.8 of the Agreement Establishing the WTO and the
Declaration on electronic commerce, request to be kept informed by the Committee
on Government Procurement of any review it undertakes on electronic commerce.
II. To conduct its examination of all trade-related issues relating to global electronic commerce,
the General Council would:
(1) Take into account the economic, financial, and development needs of developing
countries, in particular regarding the benefits that electronic commerce can bring to
developing countries to enhance their trade, including by their small and mediumsized companies (SMEs).
(2) Provide for periodic exchange of views on activities in other fora, such as  UNCTAD,
the OECD, WIPO and UNCITRAL, in order to increase its understanding of the
ongoing work on electronic commerce.
(3) Encourage WTO Members to invite private sector companies and organizations to
contribute informally to the work program through i.e., projects and seminars that
will provide information to Members.WT/GC/W/95
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(4) Examine ways in which WTO Members can use electronic commerce to facilitate
compliance with their obligations in WTO Agreements.
(5) Examine the generic issues raised by the Secretariat’s Special Study 2 entitled,
“Electronic Commerce and the Role of the WTO.”
III. In preparing its report, including any recommendations, to the third session of the Ministerial
Conference in 1999, the General Council would:
(1) Coordinate reviews by the WTO bodies identified in I(1) above.(2) Include information on the activities of the Committee on Government Procurement
on electronic commerce.
(3) Review making permanent the commitment of Members to not impose customs
duties on electronic transmissions.
IV. To facilitate its work, the General Council may seek input from the Secretariat for assistance,
which would rely on the Research and Economic Analysis Division to coordinate its work.
V.  To conduct their work, each of the WTO bodies listed in section I(1) should:
(1) Review the application to electronic commerce of the provisions of the agreement it
administers, including identifying trade-related issues relating to electronic
commerce.
(2) Invite private sector companies and organizations to contribute to the work program
on global electronic commerce, for example, through projects and seminars that will
provide information to Members.
(3) Report to the General Council the results of its work, including any recommendations.
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