S/C/54  
 
12 July 2018  
(18-4359) Page:  1/2 
Council for Trade in Services   
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON EL ECTRONIC COMMERCE  
REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUN CIL FOR TRADE IN SER VICES  
TO THE GENERAL COUNC IL 
1.1.  Pursuant to the 201 7 Ministerial Decision1 instructing the General Council to hold periodic 
review s of work under the Work Programme on Electronic Comm erce in its session of July 2018, 
the Council f or Trade in Services agreed on 30 May 2018 that I should report to the General 
Council , on my own re sponsibility.    
1.2.  The Council for Trade in Services discussed the Work Programme on Electronic Commerc e at 
both of its formal meetings , on 2 March  and 30 May 2018, in accordance with  the Ministerial 
mandate to continue the work under the Work Programme and endeavour to reinvigorate  work by 
the Members .  
1.3.  At the March meeting , delegations  generally  welcomed the Ministerial Decision on the Work 
Programme adopted at MC -11 and expressed support for multilateral  discussions on e -commerce.  
Members  considered two new non -papers by Chinese Taipei,  on cyberspace trade barriers (CTB) 
and the impact of changes in the digital era.2 The documents generated considerable  discussion , 
with a bout twenty delegation s intervening.  All delegations welcomed the  non-papers  as being in 
line with  the relevant MC11 Decision  and a useful step towards  reinvigorating our work.   
1.4.  Views differed with respect to some of the specific elements contained in the non -papers.  
Many Members stressed that internal taxation issues  and non -trade matte rs did not belong in the 
WTO. Others disagreed with the suggestion that Members develop non -binding principles , to 
identify the scope of legitimate policy objectives that justified CTBs, and to  clarify the application 
of existing WTO  rules and commitments related to C TBs. Some of these Members believed this 
might give the impression that the GATS did not already cover CTBs affect ing trade in services .  
Other Members  questioned the document 's assertion  that landlocked developing countries and 
SMEs were benef itting more from the internet than developed countries or large multinationals, 
that the GATS was technologically neutral , and that Members' regulation of cross -border data 
flows might cause trade concerns , noting that government interventions in this area  were 
motivated by non -trade objectives . Some delegations underscored t he need to strike a balance 
between allowing the free flow of data and ensuring that governments could respond to legitimate 
public policy concerns.  
1.5.  Both at the March and May meetings, several Members referred to issues that they felt were 
relevant for exploratory discussions  under the Work Programme. Among the most often mentioned 
were the applicability  of existing WTO rules and commitments to e -commerce,  the infrastructural 
and regulatory challenges limiting  developing countries ' participati on in the digital economy , the 
fiscal implications of the Moratorium, concerns related to competition and market structure, and 
questions related to classification, technol ogical neutrality  and statistical measurement. A number 
of delegations believed that, until such issues had been discussed in -depth and clearly understood, 
any rule-making  suggestions  were premature , asserting that the Work Programme did not contain 
a nego tiating mandate.   
1.6.  At the May meeting, the representative of China briefed the Council on a two -week 
workshop , organized  in China in May, on "E -commerce for  Development under the Multilateral  
Trading System ". The workshop included thematic discussions and f ield trips, to enable 
participants to interact with stakeholder s in the e -commerce environment in China. 
Representatives of several  developing and least -developed countries who had participated in the 
                                                
1 Document WT/L/ 1032. 
2 JOB/SERV/277 and 278, respectively.  The documents were submitted t o the Council as well as the 
other relevant bodies entrusted with the Work Programme . S/C/54 
 
- 2 - 
 
  workshop  intervened to share their impressions and generally underline the usefulness of the 
event in bridging the knowledge gap and showcasing aspects  of relevan ce for developing 
countries. The representative of Pakistan announced that the Friends of E -commerce f or 
Development would be organising, in partnership with China, a joint seminar  on e-commerce  in 
Geneva, particularly for the benefit of those delegations which had not attended the workshop in 
China.  
1.7.  The representative of India informed the Membership that  it was working on submitting 
papers in the relevant bodies, addressing the issues of the e -commerce Moratorium and 
technological neutrality; a number of delegations welcomed the announcement.   
1.8.  The representative of Bangladesh put forward a  suggestion  for the Secretariat  to update its 
1998 Note on the treatment of e -commerce in the GATS  legal framework.3 While some delegations 
supported the suggestion, others  sought more time to reflect on the proposal , noting that the 
GATS  had not changed and hence  the need for an update was unclear .   
1.9.  Recalling  that, in 2017 , the Council had decided in principle to hold a thematic seminar on e -
commerce, pending an agreement on the programme , the representative of Chinese Taipei  invited 
the Council to take up the issue  once more . Delegations were generally supportive of the Council 
holding such a seminar and  expressed  interest  in reconsidering  the programme for the event .  
1.10.   With regard to  both the suggestion on the Secretariat Note and  on the seminar, I 
encouraged the delegations directly concerned to consult with each other. It was agreed that I 
would also be in contact with delegations , to find a way forward that would be  acceptable to all 
Members.  
1.11.   A number of Members expressed concern with regard to the plurilateral initiative on e -
commerce  being pursued in parallel to the multilateral Work Programme discussions. These 
delegations said they could not support an approach for which there was no mandate, which  had a 
rule-making objective that ran contrary to the exploratory mandate of the Work Programme and 
which  could lead to the fragmentation of the multilateral trading system .  They underscored  the 
Membership's shared responsibility to reinvigorate multilateral discussions under th e Work 
Program me. 
1.12.   The r epresentative of UNCTAD report ed on UNCTAD's E -commerce W eek and on -going 
measurement work and the representative of  the ITU inform ed delegation s of the features of the 
upcoming ITU Global Symposium for Regulators on "New regulatory frontiers".   
1.13.   The Council for Trade in Services will revert to the Work Programme at its next  formal  
meeting  in October .  
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3 Document S/C/W/68.