WTO Lays Out Next Steps for E-Commerce Talks, Finalizes Technical Elements
Australia, Japan and Singapore, the co-convenors of the e-commerce negotiations at the World Trade Organization, said during their April 22-25 talks that work will shift to the "final decision-making phase" during which members will focus on "domestic consultations and conduct political outreach to try to close the gaps on remaining issues," the WTO said.
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The trio is hoping for talks to wrap up by the "European summer," the WTO said. Japan's Atsuyuki Oike said the co-convenors will send members the text's final version this week to allow domestic consultations to wrap up and members to get the final topics over the finish line. A Heads of Delegation meeting will then be held in May to "confirm the finalization of outstanding issues," aiming to complete talks by month's end.
The final April 22-25 meeting centered on "articles relating to final provisions, scope and horizontal carve outs, customs duties and the provisions on cryptography, development and e-payments." Members said information and communications technology products that use cryptography won't be part of the text moving forward.