   
  
WT/GC/W/ 909/Rev. 3 
13 February  2024 
(24-1293) Page: 1/1 
General Council  Original: English  
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE  
COMMUNICATION  FROM  AUSTRALIA ; BRUNEI  DARUS SALAM; CANADA ; CHILE ; CHINA ; 
COSTA  RICA;  EUROPEAN UNION; GEORGIA;  GUATEMALA;  HONG KONG , CHINA;   
ICELAND ; ISRAEL; JAPAN; KOREA,  REPUBLIC  OF; LIECHTENSTEIN ; MOLDOVA ,  
REPUBLIC OF ; MONTENEGRO; NEW ZEALAND ; NORTH MACEDONIA; NORWAY ;  
PARAGUAY; PERU; QATAR; SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN,  
PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU;  SINGAPORE ; SWITZERLAND ;  
THAILAND; UKRAINE ; UNITED KINGDOM  AND URUGUAY  
Revision1 
The following communication, dated 13 February  2024, is being circulated at the request of the 
above -mentioned  delegations . 
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Since 1998, WTO Members have periodically taken decisions to carry on work under the Work 
Programme on Electronic Commerce and to continue their practice of not imposing customs duties 
on electronic transmissions. We are encouraged by the extensive exchang es under the Dedicated 
Discussions  in response to the 12th Ministerial Conference decision to reinvigorat e the Work 
Programme and we now call on Members to uphold this elevated level of engagement . We take note 
of the intensified discussions on the morator ium and continued evidence -based exchanges, as we 
agreed in WT/L/1143 .  
DRAFT MINISTERIAL DECISION  
1.1.  Recognizing the importance of  continuing to examin e under the Work Programme  trade-related 
issues relating to global electronic commerce, taking into account in particular the development 
dimension , and of maintaining certainty and predictability for business and consumers, we propose 
that the Ministerial Conference adopts the fol lowing decision:  
1.2.  We agree to continue the work under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, based on 
the mandate as set out in WT/L/274  including the  development -related issues under  it. We instruct 
the General Council to identify and focus its work on a set of trade -related topics brought forward 
by Members, building on its work undertaken during the Dedicated Discussions.  To that end, w e 
mandate the WTO to continue collaboration with other international organisations and relevant 
external  stakeholders with the view to enhanc ing coordination to addres s challenges related to 
e-commerce, as identified by Members . 
1.3.  We instruct the General Council to hold periodic reviews of the Work Programme , based on the 
reports that may be submitted by the relevant WTO bodi es and report to the next session of the 
Ministerial Conference.  
1.4.  We agree to maintain the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic 
transmissions until the 14th Ministerial Conference  and to hold further deliberations on the scope, 
definition , and impact of the moratorium , including through the continued examin ation of 
empirical  evidence . 
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1 This revision is to add  China , European Union, Guatemala and Japan as co-sponsor s to the 
communication.  