Moratoria de la OMC sobre Derechos de Aduana a las Transmisiones Electrónicas

The article examines why many developing countries oppose the WTO moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, highlighting the digital divide, loss of public revenue, and restrictions on industrial policy. It argues that the moratorium primarily benefits developed nations that dominate digital exports and calls for a clear definition of 'electronic transmissions' to resolve disputes.

• The WTO moratorium, established in 1998 and renewed multiple times, prohibits the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions. The most recent renewal at the 13th Ministerial Conference set an expiration date of either the 14th Ministerial Conference or March 31, 2026.
• A significant digital divide exists where developed countries dominate digital trade; OECD countries accounted for nearly three-quarters of global digital trade exports in 2018. Consequently, developed nations are the primary beneficiaries of the moratorium, while developing countries have a much smaller share of this trade.
• There is no agreed-upon definition of "electronic transmissions" in WTO ministerial declarations or regional trade agreements, leading to uncertainty about whether the moratorium covers digitized goods, digitally delivered services, or the transmission process and its content.
• The moratorium causes a loss of public revenue that disproportionately affects developing countries, where customs duties can represent between 10% and 30% of total tax revenues, and in some cases exceed 50%, compared to less than 5% in developed countries.
• Estimates of annual public revenue losses due to the moratorium vary widely, ranging from USD 10 billion according to UN Trade and Development to USD 280 million according to the OECD.
• Replacing customs duties with Value Added Tax (VAT) or consumption taxes is deemed insufficient because developing countries face administrative challenges, informality, and high compliance costs, and VAT does not provide the same competitive advantage to national producers as customs duties do under industrial policy.
• The moratorium restricts the 'policy space' for developing countries to use customs duties as a tool for industrial policy to help domestic producers establish themselves and become competitive, especially since these countries often lack the financial resources to provide subsidies.
• The author argues that the growth of global e-commerce is driven more by technological advances (such as AI and 3D printing) and the impact of COVID-19—which saw e-commerce's share of global retail sales jump from 13.6% in 2019 to 18% in 2020—than by the moratorium itself.

APA

Kaukab, R. S. (2024). Moratoria de la OMC sobre Derechos de Aduana a las Transmisiones Electrónicas. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/es/articles/policy-analysis/wto-moratorium-customs-duties-electronic-transmission

Chicago

Kaukab, Rashid S. Moratoria de la OMC sobre Derechos de Aduana a las Transmisiones Electrónicas. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2024. https://www.iisd.org/es/articles/policy-analysis/wto-moratorium-customs-duties-electronic-transmission.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kaukab |first1=Rashid S. |title=Moratoria de la OMC sobre Derechos de Aduana a las Transmisiones Electrónicas |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=October 2024 |url=https://www.iisd.org/es/articles/policy-analysis/wto-moratorium-customs-duties-electronic-transmission |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kaukab2024moratoria, author = {Kaukab, Rashid S.}, title = {{Moratoria de la OMC sobre Derechos de Aduana a las Transmisiones Electrónicas}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iisd.org/es/articles/policy-analysis/wto-moratorium-customs-duties-electronic-transmission}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }