India warns WTO about EU’s proposal for e-commerce rules

India has expressed apprehensions about the European Union’s (EU’s) proposal on Friday to create new e-commerce rules on grounds that the high standards being proposed could decimate both the goods and services tariff rules under the World Trade Organisation (WTO), impacting its domestic industry and job creation.

Addressing the informal Trade Negotiations Committee of the Heads of Delegates on Friday, India’s permanent representative at the WTO J.S. Deepak said most developing countries including India are not ready for binding rules in e-commerce. “We fear the impact of some of the e-commerce rules being proposed under the Joint Initiative on e-commerce, on existing trade rules, particularly the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) tariffs, which protect our industry, and General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) schedules that provide us useful flexibilities.