The following is a Joint Statement released in conjunction with the EU-US
Summit in Washington, DC, December 5, 1997.
Electronic Commerce
1. Global electronic commerce, driven by the development of the Internet,
will be an important engine for growth in the world economy in the 21st
century. Electronic commerce offers considerable new opportunities for
business and citizens in all regions of the world. In particular, small
companies will be able to obtain unprecedented access to world-wide markets
at low costs and consumers will be able to choose from an even wider range
of products and services. Electronic commerce will enhance productivity
across all sectors of our economies, further encourage both trade in goods
and services and investment, create new sectors of activities, new forms
of marketing and selling, new revenue streams and, most importantly, new
jobs. Services liberalization, particularly of the basic telecom services,
plays a key role in underpinning the growth of electronic commerce.
2. We encourage an open dialogue between governments and the private
sector world-wide in order to construct a predictable legal and commercial
environment for the conduct of business on the Internet. We recognize
that electronic commerce requires a coherent, coordinated approach internationally.
Where government agreements are appropriate, we also commit ourselves
to work together constructively along with our trade partners within the
appropriate multilateral institutions and other fora to reach coherent
and effective solutions preferably at a global level. In this regard,
we agree on the importance of fully involving all countries, including
developing countries.
3. We agree to work towards the development of a global marketplace where
competition and consumer choice drive economic activity, on the basis
of the following guidelines:
(i) That the expansion of global electronic commerce will
be essentially market-led and driven by private initiative. It should
take into account the interests of all stakeholders, in particular of
consumers, libraries, schools and other public institutions, as well as
the need to ensure the widest use possible of new technologies.
(ii) That the role of government is to provide a clear, consistent
and predictable legal framework, to promote a pro-competitive environment
in which electronic commerce can flourish and to ensure adequate protection
of public interest objectives such as privacy, intellectual property rights,
prevention of fraud, consumer protection, and public safety.
(iii) That industry self-regulation is important. Within
the legal framework set by government, public interest objectives can,
as appropriate, be served by international or mutually compatible codes
of conduct, model contracts, guidelines, etc. agreed upon between industry
and other private sector bodies.
(iv) That unnecessary existing legal and regulatory barriers
should be eliminated and the emergence of new ones should be prevented.
Where legislative action is deemed necessary, it should not be
to the advantage or disadvantage of electronic commerce compared with
other forms of commerce.
(v) That taxes on electronic commerce should be clear, consistent,
neutral and non-discriminatory.
(vi) That it is important to enhance the awareness and confidence
of citizens and SMEs in electronic commerce and to support the development
of relevant skills and network literacy.
(vii) That interoperability, innovation and competition are
important for the development of a global marketplace, and that, in this
context, voluntary, consensus-based standards, preferably at an international
level, can play an important role.
4. Specifically, we agree to work towards:
(i) A global understanding, as soon as possible, that:
- when goods are ordered electronically and delivered physically, there
will be no additional import duties applied in relation to the use of
electronic means.
- in all other cases relating to electronic commerce, the absence of
duties on imports should remain.
(ii) The effective implementation by 1 January 1998 of the
commitments on basic telecommunication services included in the schedules
of commitments attached to the WTO General Agreement on Trade and Services
(GATS) and the completion of the second phase of the Agreement on Information
Technology Products by summer 1998.
(iii) The ratification and implementation, as soon as possible,
of the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms
Treaty.
(iv) Ensuring the effective protection of privacy with regard
to the processing of personal data on global information networks.
(v) The creation of a global market-based system of registration,
allocation and governance of Internet domain names which fully reflects
the geographically and functionally diverse nature of the Internet.
5. Furthermore, we agree on:
(i) Active support for the development, preferably on a global
basis, of self-regulatory codes of conduct and technologies to gain consumer
confidence in electronic commerce, and in doing so, to involve all market
players, including those representing consumer interests.
(ii) Close cooperation and mutual assistance to ensure effective
tax administration and to combat and prevent illegal activities on the
Internet.
(iii) The important positive role that electronic commerce
can play in developing a coherent approach to international work on trade
facilitation.
(iv) Close cooperation in jointly defined areas of R&D
and electronic commerce technologies, in the framework of the US-EU
Science and Technology Agreement, as well as in appropriate business pilot
projects.
(v) Continuing substantive bilateral discussions at experts
level, including, as appropriate, both government and private sector participants,
on the issues mentioned above as well as other issues, such as government
procurement; contract law and regulated professions; liability; commercial
communication; electronic payments; encryption; electronic authentication/digital
signatures; and filtering and rating technologies.
(vi) Close cooperation with a view to encouraging the exchange
of statistical data on electronic commerce.
6. Where necessary to achieve these goals, we will continue our discussions
with a view to reaching consensus in the appropriate multilateral fora,
which may include, for example, the WTO, the OECD, WIPO, and UNCITRAL.
We strongly encourage continued work within the US-EU Information Society
Dialogue, the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue and the US-EU Joint Study.
7. We will examine progress towards achieving these goals at our forthcoming
Summits.
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