JOB/GC/131  
 
14 July 2017  
(17-3829) Page: 1/3 
General Council  Original: English  
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON EL ECTRONIC COMMERCE  
WAYS TO MOVE FORWARD  
Communication from the Russian Federation  
The following communication , dated 13 July  2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of  the Russian Federation . 
 
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1  INTRODUC TION  
1.1.  The v ast development of digital technologies and rise of the internet are constantly 
contributing to the easier, faster and more cost -efficient way to trade, making e -commerce one of 
the main components o f the global economic growth.  
1.2.  E–commerce provid es new opportunities for developing different industries and productions, 
facilitating participation of micro, small and medium enterprises in the global trade, promoting 
cross-border trade, using new technologies in the production process and trade, foste ring new 
supply networks, services and business models, reducing transaction costs, fostering financial 
operations, etc.  
1.3.  However, full potential and opportunities that e -commerce has for improving economic 
activities both at national and international lev els are impeded by uneven development of 
regulatory practices between the countries, existing digital divide, as well as lack of substantive 
discussions at the international level.  
1.4.  In these circumstances, growing interest from Members to discuss e -commerc e issues in the 
WTO is encouraging. A constructive discussion could be useful in identifying common interests, as 
well as challenges, and ways to solve them in an efficient and effective manner in order to 
facilitate international trade and increase econom ic welfare of each Member.  
1.5.  Today discussions on e -commerce issues are taking place in different formats and on 
different platforms: G20, APEC, UNCTAD, OECD, etc. Nevertheless, the WTO should remain the 
only universal platform for the development of multila teral rules and in particular multilateral rules 
for the e -commerce regulation. Tak ing into account the cross-cutting nature of e -commerce, 
holistic approach to this topic should be applied in order to avoid misleading interpretation and 
build common under standing.  
2  WTO AND E -COMMERCE  
2.1.  Based on the Declaration on Global Electronic Commerce (WT/MIN(98)/DEC/2) and following 
the instructions from Ministers a Work  Programme  on Electronic Commerce (WT/L/274) was 
established by the General Council. Four bodies of t he WTO are instructed to "examine all trade -
related issues relating to global electronic commerce ": Council for Trade in Goods, Council for 
Trade in Services, Council for TRIPS and Committe e for Trade and Development.  
2.2.  This examination was practically stopp ed due to, inter alia , different approaches to 
classification and definition of subject matter of e -commerce. Some Members expressed the view JOB/GC/131  
 
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  that all products delivered electronically are services and that the GATS should be applied to such 
products. Othe r Members said that it was not clear to them that all electronically delivered 
products we re services. In their view,  some electronically delivered products that they did  not 
consider to be services, must be regulated by some other rules different from tho se of the GATS, 
i.e. GATT 1994 and Annex 1 Agreements, TRIPS, etc. Thus M embers revived discussions on 
e-commerce issues without reaching any consensus on classification and definition of products 
delivered el ectronically (digital products).  
2.3.  These discussi ons demonstrated that e -commerce to a certain extent could fall within the 
scope of the existing WTO Agreements. But existing gaps in the WTO rules related to the digital 
nature of trade might cause new challenges as WTO Agreemen ts make  no specific referen ces to 
e-commerce. T here is neither a common understanding, nor definition of the relevant subject 
matter.  
2.4.  We are convinced that resolving this issue would provide WTO Members with more clarity on 
how different WTO agreements currently cover e -commerce.  
3  GAPS RELATING  TO E-COMMERCE IN THE WTO LEGAL FRAMEWORK  
3.1.  To facilitate, we list below some examples of gaps with regard to e -commerce regulation in 
the WTO agreements.  
3.2.  Members in their communications use different terms (e.g. digital products, digitized 
products, e -commerce, digital trade, trade via the Internet etc.) and approaches to determination 
of e-commerce subject matter. Based on recent discussions and communications we have tried to 
illustrate the gaps relating to the absence of clarity in respect of  e-commerce subject matter.  
1. E-commerce – trade in goods. It is important to understand what kind of regime could 
be applied to goods that are traded via the Internet or other electronic means: custom 
duties, customs valuation, rules of origin, import licen sing, certification, labeling, and 
technical regulation and SPS measures. Also, we should reach a common understanding 
whether "traditional trade in goods " differs from "trade in goods via the Internet or other 
electronic means ". 
 
2. E-commerce – trade in ser vices.  Under these circumstances classification of "new" 
services (e.g. search engines, mobile applications, cloud computing, other digital 
products) is important issue for consideration. It is not clear where such services  fit 
within the existing UNCPC.  
 
3. E-commerce – trade in objects of intellectual property. In this  case, gaps in WTO 
regulation can be caused by the following circumstances.  
 
Cross -border nature of e -commerce often contradicts with traditional principle of 
exhaustion o f intellectual proper ty rights.  This situation ultimately leads to questions 
about the choice of applica ble law and jurisdiction in e –transactions.  
 
Also, the fast distribution of digital content creates additional oppor tunities for the right 
holder, but at the same time, it l eads to the lack of technical protection  of such content 
and significantly reduces the income of the right holder.  
 
4. Specific issues relating to e -commerce.  Regardless of e -commerce subject matter there 
are specific issues considered to be relevant to e -commerce, i.e. network access, 
recognition of e -signature, authentication, encryption, interoperability, e -payments, 
privacy and personal data protection, secure data flow, consumer protection, SPAM, 
security issues in the use of ICT. Such issues directly or indirectly affect trade, and are 
closely interconnected with e -commerce. Some elements are partially covered by 
existing WTO rules (i.e. consumer protection in the TBT Agreement and S PS Agreement, 
e-payment and e -documents in the TFA). However, in order to  facilitate international 
trade, particularly via e -commerce, and gain benefits from e -commerce it is necessary 
to clarify these issues in the WTO lega l framework.  
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  3.3.  We consider that it is important for future discussions to determine such gaps in order to 
understand whi ch next steps should be taken.  
4  POSSIBLE OUTCOMES AN D POST MC 11 FRAMEWORK  
4.1.  Over the past year, discussions on e -commerce related issues in the WTO proved the fact 
that this topic is of a horizontal nature. Only a holistic approach could bring s ubstance to the 
process. Today work on e -commerce is becoming more chaotic than ever. Some very interesting 
and valuable submissions from Members were circulated, but we still lack a proper forum to 
discuss it. Therefore, Members have not yet made any sign ificant progress on this issue. In this 
situation , a Working Group on Electronic Commerce under the auspices of the General Council 
could be a platform to advance discussions on e -commerce issues in order to make substantial 
progress. The core of discussio ns should be based on the Work  Programme  on Electronic 
Commerce and relevant submissions from Members. In this regard, a Ministerial decision 
establishing a Working Group on Electronic Commerce could b e a pragmatic deliverable of MC 11.  
4.2.  The e stablishment o f a horizontal Working Group on Electronic Commerce would serve as a 
unified platform to explore initiative and ideas on e -commerce issues, which are cross -cutting in 
nature. After initial discussions in the Working Group , authorized WTO bodies (CTG, CTS, CTD and 
TRIPS Council) could consider specific  elements further within their respective mandates and 
report back to the Working Group on Electronic Commerce on the results of technical exchange of 
views and ideas.  
4.3.  The f ormalization of work on e -commerce i n the form of schedule of meetings, minutes of 
meetings and side events (for example, seminars or workshops on particular topics) could help to 
bridge Members ' understanding and solve the existing knowledge gap on e -commerce.   
4.4.  We suggest that the Working Group on Electronic Commerce should have a mandate to fulfill 
the following tasks:  
 discussion of basic terminology relating  to e-commerce (e.g. "digital trade ", "e-trade ", 
"digital economy ", "digital products ", "electronic transmissions " etc.) in order to reach a 
common understanding relating to the scope and meaning of these terms;  
 analys is of the scope and coverage of e -commerce;  
 examination and analysis of gaps in WTO Agreements relating to e -commerce;  
 exploration of addressing cross -cutting issues;  
 analyses of existing barriers to e -commerce;  
 preparation of recommendations on how to proceed further, including examination of 
developing multilateral regulative rules.  
4.5.  The Working Group on Electronic Commerce will report on the progress made in  examination 
and analysis by MC 12. Further decisions with regard to the future work or negotiation process on 
e-commerce should be based on recommendations of the Working Group on Electronic Commerce.   
 
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