JOB/GC/198  
 
20 September 2018  
(18-5839) Page: 1/2 
General Council  Original: English  
 
JOINT STATEMENT ON E LECTRONIC COMMERCE  
COMMUNICATION FROM  UKRAINE  
The following communication, dated 19 September  2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of  Ukraine . 
 
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Ukraine is pleased to participate in the exploratory work undertaken among interested Members to 
implement the MC11 Joint statement on Electronic Commerce.  
Recognizing that e -commerce enhances trade opportunities in many sectors and considering the 
significant potential  for its development, Ukrai ne emphasizes the necessity to continue working with 
other Members to develop universal rules for e -commerce regulation and identifies a number of 
possible areas for future discussions on this issue . 
Ukraine  fully supports a comprehensive and in -depth expl oration of t rade related aspects of 
e-commerce with a view to start the negotiation of concrete outcomes.  
POSSIBLE ISSUES  FOR FUTURE DISCUSSIO N 
1  INFRASTRUCTURE GAP  
1.1.  Insufficient  development of Internet communications is a key barrier to the extension of 
e-commerce in developing and least developed countries. Therefore, the pressing issue now is to 
determine  the readiness of these  countries to build a relationship in the field of e -commerce and 
appropriate measures to promote the improvement of infrastructur e and technical specifications for 
its development.  
2  TELECOMMUNICATION SE RVICES  
2.1.  Ukraine fully supports the proposal to upgrade  provisions contained in the GATS 
Telecommunications R eference Paper (Reference Paper).  
3  CUSTOM S DUTIES  AND OTHER TAXES ON ELECTRONI C TRANSMISSIONS  
3.1.  One challenging question regarding the predictability of e -commerce is the imposition of 
custom s duties and other taxes on electronic transmissions.  
• The proposal to establish a permanent moratorium on  customs duties on electronic 
transmissions  is fully supported by Ukraine.  
• We share the view that a permanent moratorium on customs duties on electronic 
transmissions should not prevent Members from i mposing internal taxes or 
other  charges.  JOB/GC/198  
 
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  4  TRADE -RELATED ASPECTS  OF INTELLECTUAL PRO PERT Y RIGHTS  
4.1.  Ukraine  supports a discussion on increasing the level of transparency regarding the 
remuneration of copyright and related rights in the digital environment and on the improvement of 
the business environment in the electronic copyright trade by means of reaffirming the territoriality 
of copyright in the digital environment as a principle of the international trading system.  
4.2.  We also support the  prohibition of disclosure of important inform ation such as trade secrets 
including source codes and proprietary a lgorithms.  
5  OPEN DATA  
5.1.  One issue that should be discussed as it is becoming relevant in the context of economic 
feasibility is open data. It is necessary to establish or facilitate further d evelopment of public web 
portals of open data, where data is published in accordance with the interests of e -commerce 
participants and legal requirements for the openness and transparency of activities. In  addition, the 
functioning of such portals will inc rease the awareness of participants about the economic 
opportunities of open data.  
6  ELECTRONIC AUTHENTIC ATION  AND ELECTRONIC CONT RACTS  
6.1.  The development of standards, formats, identifiers for the introduction of interoperable means 
of electronic  authentication will facilitate the development of both national and cross -border e -
commerce. In addition to the legal validity of the signature, provided in electronic form and the 
enforcement of internal legislation for the recognition of electronic auth entication tools, the issue of 
compatibility of these means (especially electronic  signatures and electronic stamps) becomes more 
and more relevant . After all, the  mutual recognition and compatibility of electronic authentication 
tools can become catalysts  for the further growth of e -commerce. Qualified provision of trust services 
will help increase the confidence of the participants, who will be convinced that all electronic 
transactions will be private.  
7  PAPERLESS  TRADE  
7.1.  Another  issue that would require att ention is paperless trade. Promoting the development of 
paperless trade will significantly optimize trade facilitation procedures by accept ing electronic trade 
administrative documents (for custom clearance) that would  lower financial costs and 
transaction  time. 
8  UNSOLICITED  COMMERCIAL ELECTRON IC MESSAGES  
8.1.  Regarding  the regulation of the receipt of unsolicited commercial electronic messages (spam), 
Ukraine supports the position that:  
• Suppliers of spam should provide an opportunity for consumers to opt -out fro m such 
messages at any time ; and  
• Spam must be clearly identifiable.  
9  CYBERSECURITY  
9.1.  A final issue that might entail fruitful discussions is  cybersecurity. Rising level of cybercrime 
and fraud in terms of increasing the number of information systems that use personal data  is 
certainly a challenge, whose  impact  should be minimized. This can be achieved through collective 
cooperation in order to identify existing threats and mechanisms to combat them.  
 
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