A Group of WTO Members Adopt E-Com Agreement, Extension of Moratorium

Chennai: Indicating increasing plurilateral agreements among World Trade Organisation members, 66 members of WTO adopted a pathway to implement the world’s first baseline set of global digital trade rules. As a part of this agreement, moratorium on imposing customs duties on e-commerce will continue for five more years, despite countries including India seeking lifting of the moratorium at the World Trade Organisation’s Ministerial Conference. “The E-Commerce Agreement adopted at the conference prohibits the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions between a person of one party and a person of another party. This provides businesses the certainty to trade openly…