WTO talks conclude; no consensus on extension of e-commerce duty moratorium - The Tribune

The four-day Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the WTO concluded on Monday in Yaounde, Cameroon, with members failing to resolve the contentious issue of extending the moratorium on e-commerce customs duties.

Cameroon’s Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, the Chair of MC14, said that trade ministers worked to conclude several issues across the various areas of negotiation during the four-day meeting.

However, he said “we ran out of time” with regards to several outstanding issues such as the WTO’s work programme on electronic commerce and the continuation of the existing moratoriums on customs duties for electronic transmissions and non-violation complaints under the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

Talks will now continue in Geneva, the WTO headquarters. Talks on the e-commerce import duty ban reached a deadlock between Brazil and the US.

While some countries oppose an extension or favour a two-year period, the US is pushing for a longer duration of five years.

The World Trade Organisation members have agreed not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions such as digital downloads and streaming since 1998 and the moratorium has been periodically extended at successive ministerial conferences.

While the profits and revenues of digital players are rising steadily, the ability of governments to check these imports and generate additional tariff revenues is limited because of the moratorium. India has opposed the extension on multiple occasions.

It was last extended for two years at MC13, which was held in 2024 in Abu Dhabi. The moratorium or ban will end this month.