WT/L/1040  
31 August  2018 
(18-5431) Page: 1/2 
 Original:  French  
 
  
JOINT DECLARATIO N BY THE MEMBER STATES OF WAEMU  
ON E-COMMERCE FOR DEVELOPMENT  
The following communication, dated 2 9 August  2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Benin.  
 
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This joint declaration is made on behalf of the member States of WAEMU, namely  Benin, 
Burkina  Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea -Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo . 
 
1. The WAEMU Trade Ministers, meeting in Cotonou in September  2017, rea ffirmed their 
commitment to multilateralism founded on a trading system that is based on fair and equitable 
rules and which takes account of the development needs of those members facing the greatest 
challenges in integrating into and  benefit ing from the m ultilateral trading system . 
2. They also underscored the importance of the work being done at the WTO on all the issues 
under negotiation and reaffirmed their solidarity with the positions of the African, LDC, ACP and 
C4 groups.  
3. The WAEMU member States took n ote of the decision of the Eleventh Ministerial Conference 
of the World Trade Organization on the continuation and reinvigoration of the exploratory work on 
electronic commerce, on the basis of the existing mandate.  
4. They also took note of the willingness e xpressed by a group of WTO Members , during MC11 , 
to carry out preparatory work ahead of negotiations on e -commerce.  
5. The WAEMU Group expressed its willingness to particip ate in the multilateral work 
on e-commerce.  
6. Our countries recognize that with e -commerce becoming increasingly important in the global 
economy, it ca n contribute to structural transformation, job creation and transformation of the 
rural economy, while at the same time presenting their fragile economies with multiple challenges.  
7. We are  therefore paying great attention to the exploratory work being done at the WTO 
within the framework of the existing mandate, which will potentially allow for an in -depth 
examination of all the implications of e -commerce in the different areas covered by t he WTO, as 
well as of the legitimate concerns in regard to sustainable development.  
8. In this connection, we note that the challenges facing our countries in the sphere of 
e-commerce are enormous and have a bearing on resources, including human and financial , 
affordable access to energy and the Internet, household equipment, the legal framework, 
technology, digital and physical infrastructures, logistics and national and international electronic 
payment instruments, and that they call for appropriate response s on our part , but also for 
adequate assistance in order to overcome them.  
9. In order to address those challenges and create conditions that are conducive to the 
development of e -commerce for the benefit of WAEMU consumers an d enterprises, all of the 
eight member countries are resolved to combine their efforts and take the necessary steps at the 
national, subregional and international levels.  WT/L/1040  
- 2 - 
  10.  From this perspective, WTO Members, international e -commerce platforms  and specialized 
international organizations ha ve a role to play in boosting the participation of our countries and 
enterprises, particularly micro, small and medium -sized enterprises (MSMEs), in 
global  e-commerce.  
11. In view of the challenges they face, the WAEMU  member States consider that exploratory 
work may form a valid basis for moving forward on the issue of e -commerce while continuing 
negotiations on outstanding elements of the Doha Development Agenda . 
12.  In this regard, the work being done in the various bod ies will help to enhance members' 
understanding of real trade practice and its implications, the trade aspects of e -commerce and the 
associated development aspects, and will thus enable developing members and LDCs in particular 
to learn the necessary lesso ns as to how to proceed in order to foster e -commerce and benefit 
therefrom.  
13. Having regard to the foregoing, the WAEMU member States express their readiness to work 
with other WTO Members on e -commerce -related issues with a view to exploring any possibilit y of 
advancing the discussions within the framework of the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce.  
14. To conclude, the WAEMU countries call for consideration to be given to their needs in terms 
of trade, finance, infrastructure, logistics, training and capacity building, employment and 
development, cybersecurity and in particular public confidence in e -commerce, the promotion of 
electroni c payment instruments, and taxation or revenue -sharing resulting from e -commerce, as 
well as to flexibility for countries belonging to certain categories, such as developing and, in 
particular, least developed countries.  
Geneva, 13 July 2018 
 
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