Negotiating Services Market Access under the E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative: A development perspective

The document examines the ongoing negotiations within the WTO's E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) regarding services market access. It highlights a significant trade imbalance where developed countries are net exporters of the targeted services, while most developing countries are net importers. The brief discusses the 'challenging' nature of these negotiations, the ambiguity of the legal architecture for the final outcome, and the lack of gender and social inclusion considerations. It suggests that developing countries could benefit from liberalizing 'core' telecommunications and computer services to bridge the digital divide, provided that progressive liberalization and special and differential treatment—similar to the Trade Facilitation Agreement—are incorporated into the final agreement.

• Proponents of the E-commerce JSI—specifically China, Chinese Taipei, the EU, and the US—have requested the removal of limitations ('none') or improvements to commitments in 37 specific sectors across five broad services sectors for Modes of Supply 1, 2, and 3, while requesting that Mode 4 remain 'unbound'.
• There is a significant market access imbalance because developed country members of the JSI are net exporters of the services sectors under negotiation, whereas most participating developing countries (excluding some Asian economies) are net importers.
• The legal architecture of the JSI outcome remains undecided, with competing views on whether it should be a reference paper for MFN-based schedules (favored by the EU), a plurilateral agreement restricting benefits to participants (favored by China and the US), or a 'Flexible Multilateral Trading System' via an amendment to the Marrakesh Agreement (suggested by India and South Africa).
• The negotiations currently lack substantive discussions on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), with the December 2020 Consolidated Negotiating Text containing only two gender-inclusive provisions proposed by Canada.
• Developing countries may find opportunities in removing restrictions on 'core' e-commerce services—specifically telecommunications, computer, and financial services—to accelerate digitalization and bridge the digital divide, despite the current dominance of developed economies in these sectors.
• To ensure a development dimension, the brief suggests adopting a progressive liberalization mechanism similar to the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), as exemplified by a proposal from Côte d’Ivoire that allows developing countries to define their own timetables and levels of access.

APA

Ismail, Y. (2021). Negotiating Services Market Access under the E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative: A development perspective. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/negotiating-services-market-e-commerce-joint-statement-en.pdf

Chicago

Ismail, Yasmin. Negotiating Services Market Access under the E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative: A development perspective. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/negotiating-services-market-e-commerce-joint-statement-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ismail |first1=Yasmin |title=Negotiating Services Market Access under the E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative: A development perspective |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/negotiating-services-market-e-commerce-joint-statement-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ismail2021negotiating, author = {Ismail, Yasmin}, title = {{Negotiating Services Market Access under the E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative: A development perspective}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/negotiating-services-market-e-commerce-joint-statement-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }