International Agreements

The key forum for promoting and negotiating a liberal trade environment for electronic commerce internationally at this time is the World Trade Organization (WTO).

As electronic commerce is a truly interdisciplinary matter, most of the major agreements falling under the WTO are significant:

• The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT);



• The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS);



• The Information Technology Agreement (ITA); and



• The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

In many respects, however, it is the trade in services negotiations (and therefore the GATS) that are most relevant, as many services are both enablers and users of electronic commerce. GATS contains the disciplines that guarantee the rights for market access in various sectors to conduct international business electronically.

Details on current service trade negotiations, including Canada's position, can be found on the International Trade Canada website. Industry Canada is responsible for representing the interests of the two major stakeholders - Canadian consumers and businesses - in international negotiations through consultations with various industries and civil society groups. These interests are secured by appealing for market access in key services while ensuring that fundamental principles as reflected in domestic regulations in areas such as privacy and security are not compromised by our commitments.

In addition to promoting electronic commerce through international trade agreements, Canada also signed five Joint Statements on electronic commerce with other countries:

• United States/Mexico;
• Australia;
• Costa Rica;
• European Union (EU);
• United Kingdom (UK).

The Joint Statements indicate a commitment on behalf of the parties to promote the use of electronic commerce through fundamental principles. For example, these statements reiterate the importance of multilateral agendas, while outlining the necessity for the partners to cooperate on domestic policy issues such as privacy, security, consumer protection and taxation. All statements, recognizing the potential benefits of the digital economy, emphasize a shared vision for global e-commerce as their fundamental purpose.

Trade policy issues are also being discussed in other fora such as:

• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC);
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD);
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD);
• United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

The main objective of these discussions is to build an international consensus on key policy issues affecting e-commerce so as to enable its use worldwide. These fora present a good opportunity to harmonize domestic regulations and procedures to facilitate adoption and use of e-commerce by businesses, governments and consumers. Canada is very active in these fora.

International Trade Subjects:

• Trade Policy Objectives
• Related Links