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

New Delhi: 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.

Developing nations oppose the move as they are witnessing a rise in imports of electronic transmissions, mainly items like movies, music, video games and printed matter, some of which could fall within the scope of the moratorium.

There are revenue implications as a result. According to estimates, the potential tariff revenue losses for developing countries are about USD 10 billion per year. For India, it could be over USD 500 million every year.

The existing moratoriums related to customs duties on electronic transmissions and TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints will expire at the end of this month.

The expiry of the moratorium would enable countries to impose customs/import duties on electronic transmissions such as downloads and streaming services.

Upon the conclusion of MC14, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed progress in discussions on a work programme for advancing ongoing talks on WTO reform, the decision on advancing work on further disciplines on harmful fisheries subsidies, and other issues.

The WTO in a statement said that ministers agreed to continue engaging in negotiations on fisheries subsidies, aiming to make recommendations to the 15th Ministerial Conference to achieve comprehensive disciplines on fisheries subsidies.

Ministers also adopted two MC14 decisions that were endorsed earlier by countries in Geneva, which include improving the integration of small economies into the multilateral trading system; and enhancing the precise, effective and operational implementation of special and differential treatment provisions in the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).

The Ministerial Conference, held every two years, is the highest decision-making body of the WTO. Nearly 2,000 trade officials, including more than 90 ministers, attended the four-day MC14 in Yaounde. It was only the second time the Ministerial Conference was held in Africa.