S/C/47  
 
17 July 2015  
(15-3674)  Page: 1/1  
Council for Trade in Services    
 
 WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 
REPORT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE IN SERVICES 
TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
1   Pursuant to the 2013 Ministerial Decision1 instructing the General Council to review progress 
on the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce in its session of July 2015, the Council for Trade in Services agreed on 3 June 2015 that I should make this report to the General Council, on my 
own responsibility. 
2   Since my last report to the General Council on 8 December 2014, the Council for Trade in 
Services discussed the Work Programme on Electron ic Commerce at both of its formal meetings of 
18 March and 3 June 2015, pursuant to the Ministerial mandate to continue substantially 
invigorating that work.  
3   At the March meeting, Members reverted to the US communication addressing cross-border 
information flows, localization requirements, privacy protection and cloud computing.
2 The US 
delegation indicated that its submission was not proposing that new rules be developed or new 
commitments negotiated under the e-commerce Work Programme. Rather, the submission was designed to engage Members in a dialogue and information-sharing exercise with regard to the 
issues it addressed, possibly via a dedicated discussion or a seminar. 
4   Several delegations reiterated that no new commitments or disciplines could be negotiated 
under the e-commerce Work Programme; however, Members seemed generally amenable to engaging in an experience-sharing discussion, so lo ng as this implied no normative or prescriptive 
content.  
5   At the June meeting, a similar openness to engaging in exploratory information-sharing 
exercises emerged. At that meeting, two propos als were put forward. Chinese Taipei suggested 
that a workshop on trade policy issues related to  e-commerce be organised under the auspices of 
the Council, and China suggested that Members embark on a structured information-sharing 
exercise, by adding a standing sub-item to that effect on the Council's agenda item on the Work 
Programme. While stressing that such an exercise should be open-ended with respect to content 
and format, China suggested that challenges and implications for the participation of SMEs in e-commerce could be one topic of interest. Members generally welcomed both suggestions. One delegation reiterated that the Work Programme did not include a negotiating mandate.  
6   Chinese Taipei also submitted a communicati on on the protection of personal information 
and the development of e-commerce.
3 Delegations generally welcomed the information provided, 
with many indicating that they were still analysing it. Nevertheless, a few Members sought further 
clarifications about the privacy protection framework adopted by Chinese Taipei.  
7   On 15 July I held open-ended consultations to  determine next steps with regard to the Work 
Programme, including as concerned the two suggestions made. At this meeting, China's proposal 
to formalize information sharing was accepted.  Accordingly, a sub-item on the exchange of 
information and experiences will be added to the ag enda of the next Council meeting.  As for the 
proposal for a workshop made by Chinese Taipei, delegations requested more time to discuss possible elements.  
8   The Council for Trade in Services will revert  to the Work Programme at its next meeting.  
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1 Document WT/L/907, dated 11 December 2013. 
2 Originally circulated as document JOB/SERV/196 and subsequently reissued as document S/C/W/359. 
3 Document S/C/W/360.