The Fourteenth Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which has taken place over four days in Yaoundé (Cameroon), concluded in the early hours of Monday without reaching a consensus to extend the moratorium that, since 1998, prevents applying customs duties to electronic transmissions and which expires this Tuesday.
"We are running out of time" with respect to several pending issues, such as the WTO work program on e-commerce and the continuation of the current moratoria on customs duties for electronic transmissions and non-violation complaints under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), has acknowledged the Minister of Trade of Cameroon and Chair of MC14, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.
In Yaoundé, the opposing and, finally, irreconcilable positions on this issue have become evident: the United States advocated making the moratorium "permanent", while Brazil leaned towards an extension "no longer than two years".
The Second WTO Ministerial Conference, held in May 1998, approved a Declaration on Global Electronic Commerce in which the WTO General Council was asked to launch a comprehensive work program to analyze the trade challenges linked to e-commerce. At the same time, the ministers agreed not to apply customs duties to electronic transmissions until the next session, which is known as the "moratorium on electronic transmissions."
At the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference, which took place in Abu Dhabi in 2024, WTO members adopted a Ministerial Decision to continue the practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until MC14 or March 31, 2026.
At the close of CM14, past midnight, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stressed that, despite being "very close" to closing a package of agreements in Yaoundé relevant for members and for the future of the organization, "we have run out of time."
In this vein, in order not to waste "so much effort and work, with the goal so close," the Nigerian official has proposed moving the negotiations to Geneva and using as reference the texts agreed upon during the Cameroon summit in order to finalize the agreements at the next meeting of the General Council.
Its intention is to take to Geneva the progress achieved regarding the draft Ministerial Declaration of Yaoundé on WTO Reform; the draft Ministerial Decision on Electronic Commerce; the draft Ministerial Decision on the Moratorium on Non-Violation and Situation Complaints under the TRIPS Agreement; and the draft Ministerial Decision on Fisheries Subsidies.
"Finishing this package would represent a considerable achievement. We must not let it pass," Okonjo-Iweala stressed, while recalling that the moratoriums and the work program on e-commerce conclude at the end of this month.
Worrying result for companies
The Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), John Denton AO, believes that the "failure" of WTO members to close a concrete political agreement in Yaoundé is "particularly worrying" in a context of strong tensions for the global economy.
In his opinion, while companies attended this ministerial meeting in search of decisions that would restore confidence in the commercial system and would offer a more solid basis for planning and investing, the outcome can generate "even more uncertainty at the worst possible moment".
For this reason, it has called for a determined effort to resume negotiations in Geneva "without delay", as the re-establishment of the WTO moratorium on e-commerce "must be an immediate priority".
"Exposing one of the few engines of global growth -digital services- to the threat of tariff barriers makes no sense in an already fragile economic environment," it has warned.