WTO talks near deal on reform road map amid US-India e-commerce deadlock

YAOUNDE: Trade ministers are close to agreeing on a reform plan for the World Trade Organization (WTO), as wrangling continues over extending a moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions such as digital downloads, two diplomats said.

The talks at a WTO meeting in Cameroon include efforts to bridge differences between the US and India over extending the e-commerce moratorium, which is due to expire this month.

Extending the moratorium – first adopted in 1998 as ‌part of a declaration to encourage early digital trade growth – is seen as a test for the WTO’s relevance, following a year of tariff-fuelled trade turmoil and major disruptions due ‌to the Iran war.

DRAFT REFORM PLAN TAKES SHAPE

After initial resistance from some WTO members, a new draft of the reform road map provides a timeline for progress and sets out the key issues to address, according to a copy of the draft seen by Reuters.

Those issues include improving decision-making in a consensus-based system that has long been stymied by a few countries, and the trade benefits extended to developing countries.

The reform debate comes amid efforts to rework WTO rules to render subsidy use more transparent and make decision-taking easier. The US and the EU argue that China, in particular, has taken advantage of current rules to their detriment.

Bringing into WTO rules an agreement reached by a subset of members aimed at boosting investment in developing countries also remains blocked by India, which said plurilateral accords risk eroding the body’s founding principles.