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.

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.