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APEC Ask WTO to Take Action to Promote E-Commerce
APEC foreign and trade ministers Monday called for the establishment of a taskforce in the WTO to investigate how trade rules may affect electronic commerce.
The minister acknowledged the importance of avoiding unnecessary measures restricting the use and development of electronic commerce, according to a joint statement issued at the end of their two-day meeting Monday in Bandar Seri Begawan.
The ministers endorsed a regional action plan to support the use of electronic commerce by smaller businesses, and a high-level symposium on electronic commerce and paperless trading by China and Australia next year.
Under a Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce, APEC has stipulated targets for achieving, where possible, paperless trading in goods in 2005 for developed economies and 2010 for developing economies or as soon as possible thereafter.
E-commerce is an important element for creating new opportunities that would benefit the communities in the APEC region, they said in the statement.
They highlighted in the statement the need for progress in areas such as capacity building, consumer protection, network security, compatible legal framework and the role of e-commerce in trade facilitation.
According to the statement, 19 of the 21 APEC member economies are now using an APEC electronic commerce readiness guide.
The ministers encouraged all economies to make use of the results of readiness assessments to guide future policies and plan further work to enhance e-commerce readiness.
They recognized the need to improve consumer trust and confidence for online transactions and endorsed a work program for consistent and compatible legal and regulatory frameworks, electronic transaction documents and signatures.
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