Le commerce électronique au sein de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce : Historique et dernières avancées des négociations dans le cadre de la déclaration conjointe

The report traces the evolution of e-commerce governance at the WTO from the 1998 work programme to the 2017 Joint Statement Initiative (JSI). It examines how existing WTO agreements like GATS and TRIPS apply to digital trade and details the ongoing negotiations among 83 members. Key challenges identified include the digital divide between developed and developing nations, disagreements over data flows and localization, and the lack of a consensus on whether to create new rules or revise existing ones.

• The WTO's 1998 work programme defined e-commerce broadly as "la production, la distribution, la commercialisation, la vente ou la livraison de biens et de services par des moyens électroniques".
• Existing WTO rules are partially applicable to e-commerce: the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is highly relevant due to its "neutralité technologique", while the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) covers the physical infrastructure of e-commerce.
• A temporary moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, established in 1998, has been renewed biennially; however, some developing countries are concerned about the resulting "pertes de revenus" as physical goods are replaced by digital products.
• The Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce began with 71 members in December 2017 and expanded to 83 participants by the end of 2019, including all developed countries but only three Least Developed Countries (LDCs): Benin, Lao PDR, and Myanmar.
• Negotiations under the JSI are divided into 15 thematic categories, with significant convergence on consumer protection against "pourriels" (spam) and the importance of open government data.
• Major divergences persist among the US, EU, and China, as well as between developed and developing nations, regarding "flux de données, la localisation des données, les atteintes à la vie privée par les collecteurs de données, le transfert du code source, l’imposition de droits de douane et de taxes sur l’Internet, et la censure sur Internet".
• A significant "fracture numérique" exists, where many developing countries lack the technical understanding or national policy frameworks required to engage effectively in highly technical negotiations.
• There is a lack of consensus on the legal architecture for a final result, specifically whether to create "nouvelles règles spécifiques au commerce électronique" or to perform a "révision des règles existantes de l’OMC".
• The debate over Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) is a central point of contention, particularly following a US proposal to redefine which members can claim such status in future engagements.

APA

Ismail, Y. (2020). Le commerce électronique au sein de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce : Historique et dernières avancées des négociations dans le cadre de la déclaration conjointe. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commerce-electronique-organisation-mondiale.pdf

Chicago

Ismail, Yasmin. Le commerce électronique au sein de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce : Historique et dernières avancées des négociations dans le cadre de la déclaration conjointe. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commerce-electronique-organisation-mondiale.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ismail |first1=Yasmin |title=Le commerce électronique au sein de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce : Historique et dernières avancées des négociations dans le cadre de la déclaration conjointe |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=January 2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commerce-electronique-organisation-mondiale.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ismail2020commerce, author = {Ismail, Yasmin}, title = {{Le commerce électronique au sein de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce : Historique et dernières avancées des négociations dans le cadre de la déclaration conjointe}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commerce-electronique-organisation-mondiale.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }