‘Allowing moratorium is important for developing countries to preserve policy space for digital progress’
‘Allowing moratorium is important for developing countries to preserve policy space for digital progress’
An official said India will strongly oppose the continuation of customs duty on e-commerce trade at the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Geneva next month as it is adversely affecting developing countries.
The official said it was important for developing countries to preserve policy space for their digital advancement, to regulate imports and to allow the moratorium to be abolished to generate revenue through customs duties.
WTO members agreed not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions since 1998 and the moratorium has been extended from time to time at successive Ministerial Conferences (MCs), the highest decision-making body of the 164-member organization.
“Next month in the 12th MC, several WTO members are demanding a temporary extension of the moratorium to the 13th MC, but India does not want it to be continued this time. India will take a tough stand on the matter,” the official said. “
India and South Africa have on several occasions asked the organization to revisit the issue and highlighted the adverse impact of the postponement on developing countries.
In a joint communication previously submitted to the World Trade Organisation, the two countries had said that all issues of e-commerce moratorium need to be reconsidered with “extreme urgency and its entirety”.
According to earlier communications from these two countries, the potential tariff revenue loss to developing countries is estimated at $10 billion annually.
India is witnessing a rapid growth in imports of electronic transmission, mainly items such as movies, music, video games and printed matter, some of which may come under the moratorium.
While profits and revenues of digital players continue to grow, the ability of governments to check these imports and generate additional tariff revenue is being ‘severely’ limited due to the moratorium on e-commerce.
In 2017 the moratorium on the 11th MC in Argentina was extended for two years. At the General Council meeting held in December 2019, the members agreed to maintain the existing practice until the 12th Ministerial Conference.
In addition, the official said that India wants the World Trade Organization to intensify the work program on the e-commerce sector.
In 1998, the General Council of the WTO established the Work Program on E-commerce to comprehensively examine all trade-related issues relating to global e-commerce, taking into account the economic, financial and development needs of emerging economies. .
India has also said that the Council for Trade in Goods, Council for Trade in Services, Council for TRIPS and Committee for Trade and Development should discuss e-commerce in accordance with their respective mandates as originally laid down.
“We support the resumption of work under the 1998 work program on e-commerce,” the official said, adding that the subject was discussed for the past several years but no conclusion was reached so far. .
The official said India is of the view that formal talks at the WTO on terms and topics in e-commerce are time-consuming, given the highly heterogeneous nature of the current global e-commerce space and the lack of understanding on the implications of the multidimensional dimensions of the issues. will be before. sector related.
“Developing countries need to maintain the flexibility to implement policies to keep pace with the developed countries in the digital space. We need to focus on improving domestic physical and digital infrastructure first,” the official said. “
India and South Africa have made a request under the Action Plan, emphasizing the need to reactivate work.