India and South Africa revive multilateral talks on ecommerce

New Delhi: Ahead of a key meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) next week, India and South Africa have jointly proposed that the multilateral trade body have structured discussions on the developmental aspects of electronic commerce and impact of a moratorium that prohibits countries from levying taxes on digital transmissions.

The proposal aims to counter the initiative by certain WTO members to frame global rules on digital trade. “The submission has been made under the existing multilateral framework to counter negotiations which are outside WTO,” said an official.