ASEAN REFLECTIONS ON LUNCH PANEL ON "CAN E-COMMERCE TRADE RULES HELP
MSMES FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?" HELD DURING THE UNCTAD E-COMMERCE
WEEK, 27 APRIL 2017
The following communication, dated 29 May 2017, is being circulated at the request of the
delegation of Singapore, on behalf of the ASEAN Members (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam).
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1. E-commerce is not new to the WTO, and is within the scope of existing WTO
agreements:
GATT 1994 & Annex 1 Agreements, GATS, TRIPS have e-commerce relevant clauses.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement contains disciplines on electronic payments and
electronic copies of documentation.
WTO dispute settlement case law referencing e-commerce, e.g. US-Gambling,
China-Electronic Payment Services, Mexico-Telecoms, China-Publications and
Audio-visual Products.