{"id":167171,"date":"2022-02-08T20:41:49","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T15:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=167171"},"modified":"2022-02-08T20:41:49","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T15:11:49","slug":"notes-for-india-as-the-digital-trade-juggernaut-rolls-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/notes-for-india-as-the-digital-trade-juggernaut-rolls-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes for India as the digital trade juggernaut rolls on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News: <\/strong>\u00a0In December 2021, Australia, Japan, and Singapore, have stated that they might schieve convergence on more issues linked to the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce<\/strong> by the end of 2022. These 4 countries are co-convenors of the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI)<\/em> on e-commerce.<\/p>\n

How present rules existing on digital trade progressed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Second Ministerial Conference (1998) of WTO, member countries agreed on core rules for e-commerce. A temporary moratorium<\/strong> was imposed on customs duties<\/strong> relating to the electronic transmission of goods and services. This moratorium was opposed by India and South Africa because it imposes significant costs on developing countries.<\/p>\n

Hence, a work programme was set up on e-commerce but due to lack of progress, JSI was initiated in 2017 to work on the trade-related aspects of e-commerce<\/strong>. China and Indonesia joined with a justification that it is better to shape the rules from within.<\/p>\n

What are the issues associated with JSI?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One<\/strong>, over half of WTO members have opted out of JSI negotiations. The developing countries fear that accepting these rules will affect their digital sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Two<\/strong>, JSI does not include all WTO members, like General Council Work Programme. Thus, India and South Africa have said that it is against the WTO\u2019s consensus-based framework, where every member has a voice and vote regardless of economic standing.<\/p>\n

Why there is a disagreement between the developed and developing worlds?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, free flow of data across borders<\/strong>: several countries are imposing data localization rules. But the developed world is finding it as a restriction on access to new digital markets, and it is causing unnecessary compliance costs. Hence, it is discouraging innovation and results in unfair protectionism.<\/p>\n

For instance, In India, Mastercard and American Express were prohibited from issuing new cards for failure to comply with a 2018 financial data localization directive of RBI. Also, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on data protection has recommended strict localization measures.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>, domestic laws of some countries mandate the disclosure of source codes<\/strong>. Developed countries believe that this discourages innovation, but for developing countries, it is essential for algorithmic transparency and fairness.<\/p>\n

What are the options available for India?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One<\/strong>, advocating data sovereignty, which aims to resist \u2018data colonialism\u2019. Policymaking in India should focus on surveillance reform, personal data protection, algorithmic governance, and non-personal data regulation. They should work for individuals, communities and promote local businesses.<\/p>\n

Two<\/strong>, India should avoid signing trading obligations in a hurry to preserve the space available to frame appropriate policy. Also, it should avoid sitting out of trade negotiations to keep a check on digital trade rules. For example, RCEP.<\/p>\n

Three<\/strong>, exceptions to digital trade rules should be negotiated. For example, \u2018legitimate public policy objective\u2019 or \u2018essential security interests\u2019, could be negotiated.<\/p>\n

Four<\/strong>, India should take lessons from the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) between Singapore, Chile, and New Zealand. India should push for a framework where countries can pick and choose modules with which they wish to comply.<\/p>\n

Lastly,<\/strong> the WTO plays a critical role in global governance and is vital to India\u2019s strategic interests. Hence, India should negotiate without surrendering the domestic policy-making space.<\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>: This post is based on the article \u201cNotes for India as the digital trade juggernaut rolls on\u201d <\/strong>published in\u00a0The Hindu<\/strong> on<\/strong> 8th<\/sup> Feb 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News: \u00a0In December 2021, Australia, Japan, and Singapore, have stated that they might schieve convergence on more issues linked to the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce by the end of 2022. These 4 countries are co-convenors of the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce. How present rules existing on digital trade progressed? In the… Continue reading Notes for India as the digital trade juggernaut rolls on<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10316,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[216,10498],"class_list":["post-167171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":2,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1699702967},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}