Summary: Report by the UNCTAD secretariat. This document examines some of the elements presented in recent proposals by the European Union, Japan, the United States and the OECD secretariat for a global framework for electronic commerce and their potential consequences for trade and development. In order to facilitate the identification of common themes in the proposals, the issues raised by them are considered under the following headings: financial issues (including fiscal aspects), legal issues (including intellectual property, security and market access aspects) and access for small and medium-sized enterprises. The document concentrates on identifying the opportunities for developing countries (and their enterprises) to benefit from the proposals if they are implemented. Priorities are identified which could enable such countries to maximize the benefits and limit the risks associated with the proposals. The main findings are: (1) further evaluation is needed of the potential impact of a duty-free Internet trade zone on trade and development; (2) developing countries should be offered greater support in the area of capacity-building and training for electronic commerce; and (3) government policies regarding the provision of a supportive legal and regulatory framework for telecommunications and information services will have a direct impact on how measures taken at the international level will affect their own trade performance and the competitiveness of their enterprises in electronic markets
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International Institute for Trade and Developement : UNCTAD Collection
