Publication: Trade Polices for Electronic Commerce
Date
2000-06
ISSN
Published
2000-06
Author(s)
Mattoo, Aaditya
Schuknecht, Ludger
Abstract
Some countries in the World Trade
Organization initially opposed WTO's decision to exempt
electronic delivery of products from customs duties, out of
concern for the revenue consequences. Others supported the
decision as a means of securing open trading conditions. The
authors argue that neither the inhibitions nor the
enthusiasm is fully justified. First, even if all delivery
of digitizable media products moved on-line--an unlikely
prospect--the revenue loss for most countries would be
small. More important, however, the prohibition of customs
duties does not ensure continued open access for
electronically delivered products and may even prompt
recourse to inferior instruments of protection. Barrier-free
electronic commerce would be more effectively secured by
deepening and widening the limited cross-border trade
commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS), and by clarifying and strengthening certain GATS disciplines.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Mattoo, Aaditya; Schuknecht, Ludger. 2000. Trade Polices for Electronic Commerce. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2380. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19834 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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