   
  
WT/GC/W/831  
 
26 October 2021  
(21-8091) Page: 1/1 
General Council  Original: English  
 
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE  
COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA; CANADA; CHILE; COLOMBIA; COSTA  RICA; GEORGIA; 
GUATEMALA; HONG KONG, CHINA; ICELAND; KOREA , REPUBLIC OF ; NEW ZEALAND; NORWAY; 
SINGAPORE; SWITZERLAND;  SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN 
AND MATSU ; UKRAINE ; UNITED KINGDOM AND URUGUAY.  
The following communication, dated 26 October 2021, is  being circulated at the request of the 
delegations of Australia; Canada; Chile; Colombia ; Costa  Rica; Georgia ; Guatemala; Hong Kong, 
China; Iceland; Korea , Republic of ; New Zealand; Norway ; Singapore;  Switzerland;  Separate 
Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu ; Ukraine ; United Kingdom  and Uruguay . 
 
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Since 1998, WTO Members have pe riodically taken decisions at Ministerial Conferences to continue  
their practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions.  Recognizing the 
importance of maintaining certainty and predictability for business and consumers , particularly in 
the context of the current COVID -19 pandemic and for supporting the economic recovery, w e 
propose that the Ministerial Conference adopts the following decision : 
 
DRAFT MINISTERIAL  DECISION  
The Ministerial Conference decides as follows:  
 
We agree to continue the work under the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, based on the 
existing mandate as set out in WT/L/274.  We instruct the General Council to hold pe riodic reviews 
in its session of July [and December]  2022 [and July 2023]  based o n the reports that may be 
submitted by the relevant WTO bodies and  report to the next session of the Ministerial Conference.  
 
We agree to maintain the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions 
until the 1 3th Ministerial Co nference.  
 
 
 
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