Trade ministers are close to agreeing a reform plan for the World Trade Organization, as wrangling continues over extending a moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions such as digital downloads, two diplomats said.
The talks at a WTO meeting in Cameroon include efforts to bridge differences between the U.S. and India over extending the e-commerce moratorium, which is due to expire this month.
Extending the moratorium - first adopted in 1998 as part of a declaration to encourage early digital trade growth - is seen as a test for the WTO’s relevance, following a year of tariff-fueled trade turmoil and major disruptions due to the Iran war.
After initial resistance from some WTO members, a new draft of the reform roadmap provides a timeline for progress and sets out the key issues to address, according to a copy of the draft seen by Reuters.
Those issues include improving decision-making in a consensus-based system that has long been stymied by a few countries, and the trade benefits extended to developing countries.
