INF/ECOM/29  
 
9 May 2019  
(19-3179) Page: 1/2 
  Original: English /French  
 
 
 JOINT STATEMENT ON E LECTRONIC COMMERCE  
COMMUNICATION FROM C ANADA  
Concept Paper – Building Confidence and Trust in Digital Trade  
The following communication, dated 8  May 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of Canada.  
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1  CONTEXT  
1.1.  In the context of a potential WTO agreement on digital trade, it will be critical to achieve an 
outcome that not only facilitates expanded economic opportunities in the digital trading 
environment, but also to achieve an outcome w hereby consumers have the necessary level of 
confidence and trust to operate and participate in the global digital economy. Achieving such a result 
requires an outcome that addresses core objectives relating to digital trade facilitation and specific 
barriers to digital trade, while also ensuring the protection of consumers and personal information 
online, thereby improving confidence and trust in the digital economy.  
2  HOW TRADE AGREEMENTS  CAN ADDRESS THIS IS SUE 
2.1.  In recent trade agreements, some WTO Members h ave sought to address this important area 
of consumer and privacy protection through the inclusion of disciplines in the following four key 
areas:  
• Online Consumer Protection  – disciplines that require parties to adopt and/or maintain 
consumer protection la ws which address online misleading and deceptive commercial 
activities.  
• Personal Information Protection  – disciplines that require parties to adopt and/or 
maintain a legal framework that provides for the protection of personal information for 
users of digi tal trade.  
• Unsolicited commercial electronic messages  – disciplines that require parties to adopt 
and/or maintain measures to protect consumers from unsolicited commercial electronic 
messages (i.e. spam) and require the consent of consumers to receive commercial 
electronic messages, or require senders of com mercial electronic messages to provide 
consumers with the ability to stop receiving such messages.  
• Cooperation  – disciplines that encourage parties to cooperate on a broad range of issues 
related to digital trade, including exchanging information on laws,  regulations, policies, 
enforcement and compliance regarding personal information protection, online 
consumer protection and unsolicited commercial electronic messages.  
2.2.  While these are commitments that some Members seek to include in the digital trade cha pters 
of their trade agreements, these measures are not necessarily specific to the online environment. 
For example, in the Canadian context, the Competition Act  does not differentiate between deceptive INF/ECOM/29  
 
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  marketing practices in the physical versus digital ec onomy. Rather, the section of the Act that 
addresses deceptive marketing practices refers to "representations " – a technologically -neutral 
term. Therefore, this law applies regardless of the medium through which deceptive marketing 
practices are employed ( electronically -based or otherwise). Similarly, Canada 's privacy law that 
applies to commercial organizations, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents 
Act (PIPEDA), requires that personal information be protected, regardless of whether it is in physical 
or electronic form.  Thus, while provisions in trade agreements may require parties to adopt or 
maintain measures to address these specific issues, they do not necessarily require parties to create 
or amend laws or regulations as parties m ay already have in place measures which address these 
areas.  
3  SUGGESTIONS FROM CAN ADA IN THE CONTEXT O F THE WTO JSI ON E -COMMERCE  
3.1.  Canada proposes that negotiations on e -commerce / digital trade at the WTO seek to address 
and reflect these areas that relate  to consumer and privacy protection, which help to build confidence 
and trust. This is important to ensure that the benefits and opportunities of a future WTO agreement 
on digital trade are not only enjoyed by businesses , but also by consumers. It is also important to 
ensure that the trade -related benefits of a potential WTO agreement on digital trade are not 
undermined by misleading or deceptive commercial activities. Building and maintaining confidence 
and trust in the online economic environment requires  that a potential WTO agreement on digital 
trade include relevant provisions which require parties to have in place domestic frameworks related 
to areas such as online consumer protection, personal information protection and unsolicited 
commercial electron ic messages.  
3.2.  If a member lacks a legal framework that addresses the protection of personal information, 
consumers may be less inclined to engage in digital economic activity with companies who are based 
in these jurisdictions for fear that their informati on will not be adequately protected. By contrast, 
when members adopt and maintain legal frameworks that provide for the protection of online 
consumers from misleading or deceptive commercial activities, protection of personal information 
online, and protec tion of consumers from unsolicited commercial electronic messages, consumers 
will have more confidence in making purchases from companies who operate in these markets and 
are thus more likely to engage in digital transactions and economic activity. Therefo re, a potential 
WTO agreement on digital trade should include such provisions towards the broader objective of 
achieving broad and inclusive growth of digital trade globally.  
3.3.  For examples of the commitments that Canada has taken in these areas in recent t rade 
agreements, Members may review the Electronic Commerce chapter of the Comprehensive and 
Progressive Trans -Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) or the Digital Trade chapter of the Canada -United 
States -Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).  
4  LINK TO CPTPP E -COMM ERCE CHAPTER :  
https://international.gc.ca/trade -commerce/trade -agreements -accords -commerciaux/agr -acc/tpp -
ptp/text -texte/14.aspx?lan g=eng  
 
5  LINK TO CUSMA DIGITA L TRADE CHAPTER:  
https://www.international.gc.ca/trade -commerce/assets/pdfs/agreements -accords/cusma -
aceum/cu sma-19.pdf  
 
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