Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-2024
Abstract
Members of the WTO have long regarded e-commerce as an issue of lesser priority. Though seeking to tackle e-commerce issues since 1998 with a Work Programme, progress on enacting WTO law on the matter has remained largely stagnant. To combat two decades of relative inaction, the Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce was introduced in 2017. Now, within a decade, the JSI has drafted and released a finalised agreement which is now looked towards being integrated into the WTO legal framework. This article explores the history of the JSI, why it has been successful, and how it has overcome previous indifference of the WTO on e-commerce issues from the 1998 Work Programme. It will also highlight how the JSI does and should do to remain significant in today’s legal landscape where many plurilateral trade agreements concurrently emerge in tackling e-commerce issues.
Keywords
digital trade, electronic commerce, international trade law, JSI on e-commerce, WTO law
Discipline
International Trade Law
Publication
Journal of World Investment & Trade
Volume
25
Issue
5-6
First Page
623
Last Page
665
ISSN
1660-7112
Identifier
10.1163/22119000-12340341
Publisher
Brill Academic Publishers
Citation
LIAO, Qiu Xu.
The WTO of the future: Keeping the WTO digitally relevant through the JSI on E-Commerce. (2024). Journal of World Investment & Trade. 25, (5-6), 623-665.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4547
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1163/22119000-12340341