WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W/613 
9 November 2009 
 (09-5589) 
General Council 
17 November 2009  
 
 
  
WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 
 
Dedicated Discussions under the auspices of the General Council
 
 
Report to the 17 November 2009 meeting of the General Council 
 
 
1. At the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference in Doha in November 2001, Ministers 
agreed to continue the Work Programme on Electr onic Commerce, and instructed the General Council 
to consider the most appropriate institutional a rrangements 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.  These were that th e Councils for Trade in Services, Trade in Goods 
and TRIPS, and the Committee on Trade and Devel opment 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. At the Sixth Session of the Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China in December 2005, 
Ministers took note of the reports from the Ge neral Council and subsidiary bodies on the Work 
Programme.  They also took note that the examin ation of issues under the Work Programme was not 
yet complete.  They agreed to reinvigorate that  work, including the development-related issues under 
the Work Programme and discussions on the trade treatment, inter alia , of electronically delivered 
software.  They also agreed to maintain th e current institutional arrangements for the Work 
Programme, and declared that Members would maintain their current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until their next Session. 
4. The present report covers the work undertak en under the Work Progamme on Electronic 
Commerce that has been carried out since the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.  The Seventh 
Dedicated Discussion under the auspices of the Gene ral Council relating to the Work Programme on 
Electronic Commerce took place this year, in meetings held on 8, 13, 22 and 27 October and 2, 4 and 
6 November 2009.  There has been no activity in any of the other WTO bodies charged with carrying out work under the Work Programme. 
5. The summary prepared by the Secretariat of th e issues raised at this dedicated discussion is 
contained in document WT/GC/W/614. 
6. The purpose of this Dedicated Discussion was to consider the current situation of the Work 
Programme on Electronic Commerce in the context of preparations for the upcoming Ministerial Conference.  During the course of the seven m eetings that comprised the seventh Dedicated WT/GC/W/613 
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 Discussion, several Members expressed concern that  no work had been carried out under the Work 
Programme since the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December 2005.  They emphasised the need to bolster the Work Programme with a spec ific plan of work.  Members also discussed the 
possibility of having an interim review in the Gene ral Council, based on a report that would serve as a 
background document for the review.  They discussed  in detail the elements of the recommendations 
to be forwarded to Ministers through the Gene ral Council in November.  These discussions were 
based on proposals from several Members, which indicated evolving convergence. 
7. On the extension of the moratorium on cust oms duties on e-commerce, most Members were 
in favour of an extension to the next (post-Geneva) Ministerial.  Two delegations indicated that their 
position was linked to the extension of the mora torium on TRIPS non-violation complaints.  In 
general, Members stressed the importance of e- commerce to their economies.  Most developing-
country Members who spoke emphasised the particul ar importance of e-commerce activities to their 
economies, both through increasing opportunities and links  with strategies for the future.  The general 
view was that the extension of the moratorium would be appropriate.  Discussion on this point 
focused more on the period of the extension, natu re of the Work Programme and the possibility for 
Members to discuss issues of importance to them  based on the elements covered by the Work 
Programme. 
8. Some delegations said there was a need to est ablish a clear and specific programme of work 
under the Work Programme to be carried out within th e briefest timeframe.  This view also saw a link 
between the Work Programme and the moratorium .  Most others, however, said that the Work 
Programme and the moratorium were unrelated.  Many delegations said they could not support any 
decision that created this link or put any conditions  on extending the moratorium.  Several cautioned 
that the timeframe for completion of meaningful wo rk under the Work Programme  should be realistic, 
and warned against deadlines that were too short.  However, all expressed th eir willingness to ensure 
that meaningful work under the Work Program me was carried out under specific deadlines for 
completion of this work.  They al so agreed to have periodic review s of this Work Programme in the 
General Council meetings of July  2010, December 2010 and July 2011 , with reports of these reviews 
prepared.  Members discussed the elements to be covered by the Work Programme, and whether or not the report envisioned should contain any recomme ndations.  They also discussed whether or not to 
include a reference to certain specific basic WTO principles to be covered under the Work 
Programme.  As noted earlier, a number of meeti ngs of the Dedicated Discussion took place, during 
which Members' views evolved towards greater consensus on the outstanding points. 
9. Subsequently, Members agreed that the following  text should be sent to the General Council 
for forwarding to Ministers: 
We take note of the reports from the Genera l Council and subsidiary bodies on the Work 
Programme on Electronic Commerce and express our concern that the examination of issues under the Work Programme is not yet complete.  We decide to intensively reinvigorate that 
work, based on the Work Programme and guidelin es given in the General Council Decision of 
25 September 1998.
1 
 We instruct the General Council to hold pe riodic reviews of the progress on the Work 
Programme in its sessions of July 2010, Decem ber 2010 and July 2011.  The reports of these 
reviews, including any recommendations for acti on, would be taken into consideration during 
our next session, which we have decided to hol d in 2011, for decisions under this item. 
 
The Work Programme shall include development-related issues, basic WTO principles including among others non-discrimination, pr edictability and transparency, and discussions 
                                                     
 
1 WT/L/274 dated 30 September 1998.  WT/GC/W/613 
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  on the trade treatment, inter alia , of electronically delivered software.  We agree to maintain 
the current institutional arrangements for the Work Programme.  
 
We decide that Members will maintain their current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until our next session,  which we have deci ded to hold in 2011. 
 
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