./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W/551 
28 October 2005 
 (05-5028) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 
 
Communication from the United States
 
  
 The following communication, dated 27 October 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of the United States.  
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Preparations for the 2005 Ministerial Conference
 
 
Work Programme on Electronic Commerce  
  Customs Duties Moratorium 
 
1. One of the main goals of the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce is to identify and 
recommend specific steps to ensure that the innova tion and productivity benefits provided by the 
growth of the digital economy extend to a ll economies through an open and liberal trading 
environment.  The moratorium on the imposition of  customs duties on electronic transmissions, which 
has been in place since 1998, has made a significant c ontribution to this end.  Consequently, Members 
should consider the goal of making this morato rium permanent and binding during the Doha 
Development Agenda.  As a target, Ministers could endorse that goal as early as Hong Kong, in 
conjunction with any decision on temporary extension. 
2. Further, as the environment for electronic comme rce has evolved significantly over the past 
decade, additional clarification of the specific meani ng of the moratorium may be a useful objective.  
Questions have been raised as to what the phr ase "electronic transmission" covers, and greater 
certainty on the range of products that were intende d by Members to be included in the moratorium 
would be helpful.  Additional clarification of this issue will help us to ensure that the moratorium 
continues to serve its original purpose of creating and maintaining an environment that is favourable 
to the future development of electronic commerce. 
Trade Treatment of Electronically Delivered Software  
 
3. Trade in electronically delivered software pos itively impacts both developing and developed 
countries.  For example, the recent seminar on co mputer and related serv ices demonstrated the 
importance of software development and informa tion technology services in diverse economies such 
as Kenya, Pakistan, Mexico, and Egypt, among ot hers.  The collaboration among many different 
countries on the development and creation of softwa re that is then transmitted seamlessly across 
borders warrants a creative approach which build s on trade disciplines across the whole range of 
WTO agreements.  It is inherently in the intere sts of all Members to pursue approaches, in all 
appropriate fora, that ensure liberal trade treatment for electronically transmitted software. WT/GC/W/551 
Page 2  
 
 4. To further that goal, the United States is seeking Ministers' recognition of the special growth, 
development, and productivity bene fits afforded by trade in software products.  And in so doing, 
recognize that WTO rules have provided a framework  for liberalized trade in software products 
delivered on carrier media, and thus agree to work  toward achieving liberalized trade treatment of 
software products whether those products are deliver ed on carrier media or by electronic transmission. 
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