The following communication, dated 23 September 1999, has been received from the Permanent Mission of Canada. The following proposal is presented by Canada for consideration in the preparatory processfor the Seattle Ministerial meeting. Measures affecting services supplied by electronic means are measures affecting trade in services and would therefore be covered by GATS obligations.
Electronic commerce is increasingly global and can reinforce the trend towards tradeliberalization.
It requires an open, predictable, and transparent trading environment which operates across territorial borders and jurisdictions. International cooperation is essential to creating such a trading environment and to optimizing the social and economic potential of electronic commerce, both by creating the enabling conditions for electronic business to take place on a transnational basis and by removing barriers or impediments to electronic commerce. The Work Programme on Electronic Commerce executed over the past year has beensuccessful in bringing to the forefront the trade-related aspects of electronic commerce, and highlighting the issues which must be considered within each WTO body as part of ongoing work. Narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries is both important and urgent and will be beneficial to all Members. Given the nature of electronic commerce, including the rapidly evolving technology associated with electronic commerce, a WTO Experts Committee on Electronic Commerce, consisting of representatives from all interested WTO Member governments, should consider ways in which it can draw upon expertise from outside government using processes similar to those of other WTO bodies.