. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W/555 
21 November 2005 
 (05-5538) 
General Council 
1-2 December 2005  
 
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 
 
Dedicated Discussions under the auspices of the General Council  
on Cross-Cutting Issues related to Electronic Commerce  
 
Report to the 1-2 December 2005 m eeting of the General Council 
 
 
1. At the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conferen ce in Doha, Ministers agreed to continue the 
Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, and instru cted the General Council to consider the most 
appropriate institutional arrangements for handling the Work Programme and to report on further 
progress to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference. 
2. At its meeting on 15 October 2002 the General Council agreed to maintain, for the duration of 
the work until the Fifth Ministerial Conference, the institutional arrangements then in place for 
handling the Work Programme, i.e. that the Counc ils for Trade in Services, Trade in Goods and 
TRIPS, and the Committee on Trade and Development would examine and report on aspects of 
electronic commerce relevant to their respective ar eas of competence, and the General Council would 
play a central role in the entire process, would keep the Work Programme under continuous review 
and would consider any trade-related issue of a cro ss-cutting nature.  Subsequently, in its Decision of 
1 August 2004 the General Council agreed that it and other relevant bodies shall report in line with 
their Doha mandates to the Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference. 
3. The present report covers the examination of cross-cutting issues related to electronic 
commerce that has been carried out since the Canc ún Ministerial Conference in dedicated discussions 
under the auspices of the General Council.  Th ere has been one such meeting, on 7 and 
21 November 2005, as well as informal consultations on 9 and 14 November. 
4. The summary prepared by the Secretariat of th e issues raised at this dedicated discussion is 
contained in document WT/GC/W/556. 
5. The United States made a submission entitle d "Preparations for the 2005 Ministerial 
Conference – Work Programme on Electronic Comme rce" (WT/GC/W/551) for discussion at this 
dedicated discussion, and also circulated informally a communication on "Ensuring Liberalized Trade Treatment of Software in the WTO" and one on "Fostering Greater Certainty Regarding Customs 
Duties in the Electronic Environment". 
6. The discussion focused mainly on two issues, bot h in terms of the various considerations 
arising with respect to these issues, as well as on  the possible inputs to the draft text for the 
Ministerial Conference at Hong Kong, China:  (i) extension of the moratorium on the imposition of 
customs duties on electronic transmissions and (ii) the trade treatment of software. 
7. While the discussion focused mainly on these two issues, it was also noted that discussions on 
E-Commerce should take place on all the componen ts of the Work Programme, with particular 
emphasis on the development aspects.  It was also noted that the topic was being addressed after a long gap and that serious work on the various pa rts of the Work Programme was required during the 
next year.   WT/GC/W/555 
Page 2  
 
8. Regarding the moratorium on the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions, 
the United States' submission suggest ed that it be extended, that Me mbers consider the possibility of 
making it permanent and binding during the Doha Development Agenda, and that Ministers could 
endorse that goal as early as Hong Kong. 
9. There was agreement in general on the morato rium being extended until the Session of the 
Ministerial Conference following the one in Hong K ong, China.  One delegation was not in favour of 
this extension, and another was not in a position at  the present time to provide a view on the matter. 
10. On making the moratorium permanent and binding, it was considered that at present the time 
was too short to adequately exam ine this matter and thus any deci sion on this would be difficult by 
the time of the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.  However, there was in general a willingness to 
further discuss this issue under the Work Programme in 2006.   
11. The United States also suggested that in order to clarify the scope of the current practice 
under the moratorium, the term "electronic transmi ssions" might be replaced with the term "products 
that are transmitted electronically".  Delegations felt there was a need to  further examine this 
suggestion, and this issue would also be part of  the discussions under the Work Programme in 2006. 
12. On software, the United States' proposal sought Ministers' recognition of the special growth, 
development and productivity benef its afforded by trade in software products, and also guidance from 
Ministers in Hong Kong for working towards achievi ng liberalized trade treatment of electronically 
delivered software. 
13. Participants recognized the importance of so ftware trade for development and economic 
performance.  While some delegations agreed th at Ministers in Hong Kong should provide guidance 
on the trade treatment of software, some others s ought further clarity on the proposal and felt that it 
was too early to have Ministers provide any guida nce on specific trade treatment for software.  
Nonetheless, the positive impact of liberalized tr ade in software was re cognized, and there was 
support for initial discussions, under the Work Progra mme in 2006, on the issue raised by the United 
States, without linkage to negotiating areas and without  prejudice to Members' positions.  It was also 
stated that any approach to the liberalization of the treatment of software had to incorporate the 
development dimension, fully respect non-discrimina tion, and that any consideration of software 
should not prejudice any Member's position on whether electronic deliverables were a good or a service.  Further, some Members st ated that the discussion should cover not only software, but all IT 
goods and services facilitating e-commerce. 
14. On the issue of recommendations for consider ation by the General Council, delegations 
discussed the matter, but there was no consensus on the following paragraph.  [Participants in the 
dedicated discussions are of the view that the exam ination of cross-cutting issues related to electronic 
commerce is not yet complete, that further work to  clarify these issues is needed, and that discussion 
of such issues, including those raised at the presen t dedicated discussion, should be pursued under the 
Work Programme in 2006.  Accordingly, and having regard to paragraph 34 of  the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration and paragraph 1(h) of the General Council's July 2004 Decision on the Doha Work 
Programme, the General Council may wish to consider recommending reinvigorating work under the 
Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, including the development-related issues under the Work 
Programme, and discussions on the trade treatment, inter alia , of electronically delivered software.  
The General Council may also consider recommending that Members maintain their current practice 
of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until the next Ministerial Session.  The 
current institutional arrangements for the Work Programme remain satisfactory.] 
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