Nearly 80 countries reached an agreement on Friday on rules to streamline global electronic commerce, including the recognition of electronic signatures and protection against online fraud, but were unable to get the United States to join the group.
After five years of negotiations, the group’s coordinators – Australia, Japan and Singapore – agreed to what they called a “stable text”, which the European Union hailed as “landmark news” and the United Kingdom as “innovative”.
“We negotiate the first global rules on digital trade,” EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said in a post on the social network X.
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The UK said all participants in the agreement will digitalise documents and customs procedures, recognise electronic documents and signatures, and establish legal safeguards against online fraudsters and misleading claims about products.
The text states that parties will strive to limit spam and protect personal data, in addition to supporting less developed countries.
In total, 91 of the 166 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) took part in the talks, including China, Canada, Argentina, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
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The US said the new text is an important step, but it is still not enough and more work is needed regarding exceptions on essential security interests.
“We look forward to working with interested members to find solutions to remaining issues and bring the negotiations to a timely conclusion,” U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Maria Pagan said in a statement.
Some other countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey have other objections, according to a Geneva-based trade source, adding that in most cases these are minor disagreements.
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Those involved may find it difficult to turn the efforts into a formal WTO agreement as this would require consensus among all members. India and South Africa have been particularly critical of agreements that do not involve all members.
