[bestbits] Fwd: WTO Needs Far-Reaching Digital Trade Pact, Experts Say

Mon Jan 25 06:23:54 EST 2016

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On 25 January 2016 at 14:22, Carolina Rossini <carolina.rossini at gmail.com>
wrote:

> yes, that is true...there will not be negotiation *IF* the strategy is to
> just have other countries sign on to TISA when that one is deposited at WTO
> and open for additional signatories (which we have heard of already)
>
> in the case of TPP and TTIP, since they are regional ...it might be the
> case countries that are not part of those regions cannot simply sign on.
> But the same text can be re-named and tabled. In that case, there is
> theoretical space for negotiation. But the trade offs pro-trade are just
> too strong.
>
> So, my intention here is that folks are aware of all of these and that we
> decide what to do (or not) ...and how this impacts each organization
> strategy in terms of investing time and resources. At the end of the
> day...these are the hard law, binding rules ....
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 6:14 AM, Burcu Kilic <bkilic at citizen.org> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Exactly! As one US lobbyists described this process as ‘*creating
>> alternative “play-by-the-rules” clubs of like-minded countries’*.
>>
>>
>>
>> TISA (Trade in Services Agreement) is a very good example of this. It
>> currently being negotiated between 20+ parties (counting the EU as one),
>> who call themselves, ironically, the Really Good Friends of Services. The
>> TISA talks began formally in March 2013.
>>
>>
>>
>> The negotiators  aim is to extend the scope and rules of the General
>> Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO. Attempts to achieve that
>> goal through the Doha round have been stalled for some years. The TISA is
>> intended as a ‘*gold standard*’ agreement that other countries can
>> accede to, set new standards that will inform other agreements, and
>> eventually be incorporated back into the GATS to apply to the whole WTO
>> membership.
>>
>>
>>
>> The US and its industry are dominant players in TISA negotiations.
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net [mailto:
>> bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] *On Behalf Of *parminder
>> *Sent:* Monday, January 25, 2016 12:01 PM
>> *To:* Carolina Rossini
>> *Cc:* <bestbits at lists.bestbits.net> bestbits at lists.bestbits.net&gt
>> *Subject:* Re: [bestbits] Fwd: WTO Needs Far-Reaching Digital Trade
>> Pact, Experts Say
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Monday 25 January 2016 04:09 PM, Carolina Rossini wrote:
>>
>> Not entering in the more philosophical discussion now
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ..(and still saving the right to disagree with myself later)
>> ...negotiations at the WTO are more transparent than all of those tons of
>> trade agreement negotiations happening around the world behind closed
>> door....
>>
>>
>> That is true, but hardly addresses the point that trade governance forums
>> are not the best place to evolve Internet related policies... Meanwhile do
>> note that the author commends the TPP and TTIP treaties and seek to make
>> them  " a basis for developing a specific agreement on digital trade that
>> should be negotiated at the WTO on a plurilateral basis".
>>
>> Also, do see that the authors are not asking for multilateral
>> negotiations, but even within the WTO just plurilateral ones, so that the
>> 'default frameworks' are not threatened by something as dumbly democratic
>> as majoritarianism .
>>
>> This is the typical global governance for the powerful today; develop the
>> basic governance paradigm and frameworks among a selective group, entrench
>> it through the economic might of the select group, and then seek all
>> countries to get co-opted through accession, or taking these frameworks to
>> plurilateral/ multilateral venues, with the basic frameworks already
>> entrenched and very little leeway left for new 'participants'.
>>
>> I do not think that civil society speaking out against such a
>> pro-powerful governance model would be considered a philosophical exercise.
>> One sees a very larger number of global civil society groups and networks
>> routinely do it.
>>
>> parminder
>>
>>
>>
>> parminder
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 5:34 AM, parminder <parminder at itforchange.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> If we keep pushing away credible global means of discussing and
>> articulating global Internet policies at Internet-centric forums where
>> there can be expected a much better chance to take a social- centric (where
>> human rights, equality, social justice would certainly have more
>> prominence) treatment of issues, we would end up with trade (and security)
>> -centric forums making global Internet policies for us... Civil society
>> must therefore take its share of the responsibility for this unfortunate
>> trend. While the civil society has been given the multistakeholder teddy
>> bear (or as a colleague called it, a rattle toy) to keep itself occupied
>> with, real work goes on elsewhere...
>>
>> Thinkers have warned of a situation where instead of our economy being
>> embedded in the society, we will have a society embedded in the economy.
>> The very important social artefact of the Internet  - which is kind of the
>> DNA of new structures of an emerging digital network society -  being
>> primarily governed by trade treaties is big step towards the latter,
>> undesirable, state.
>>
>> parminder
>>
>>
>>
>> On Monday 25 January 2016 02:47 PM, Carolina Rossini wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.law360.com/internationaltrade/articles/749648/wto-needs-far-reaching-digital-trade-pact-experts-say WTO
>> Needs Far-Reaching Digital Trade Pact, Experts Say
>>
>> Share us on:   By *Alex Lawson*
>>
>> Law360, New York (January 22, 2016, 3:03 PM ET) -- Policymakers around
>> the globe should begin thinking about negotiations for an expansive World
>> Trade Organization agreement devoted solely to digital trade, e-commerce
>> and telecommunications issues, according to an expert paper circulated at
>> the World Economic Forum Friday.
>>
>> While acknowledging the progress made on digital trade in recent regional
>> trade deals, the paper — prepared jointly by the WEF and the the
>> International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development — said the time
>> has come for an agreement that tackles those issues head-on at the World
>> Trade Organization.
>>
>> “There is a need to develop greater consensus or a critical mass around
>> core concepts regarding cross-border data flows,” the paper said. “Rules
>> and principles to support and expand digital trade are being inserted in
>> some trade agreements. This is a positive step that should be discussed and
>> expanded to more jurisdictions.”
>>
>> The authors specifically cited the recently concluded Trans-Pacific
>> Partnership and the still-underway Transatlantic Trade and Investment
>> Partnership as examples of significant trade deals tackling e-commerce,
>> which they said should be used as a springboard for similar work on a
>> broader platform.
>>
>> “This work provides a basis for developing a specific agreement on
>> digital trade that should be negotiated at the WTO on a plurilateral basis
>> — open to those interested in joining, with consideration given to applying
>> any such agreement on a [most-favored-nation] basis to all WTO members,”
>> the paper said.
>>
>> On an overarching policy level, the paper argued that a new agreement
>> should allow for the unconstrained flow of data across borders between
>> willing partners, and that the only exception should be one that is
>> narrowly tailored and based on national security considerations.
>>
>> Furthermore, the experts said there ought to be wide-ranging rules
>> barring countries from requiring data to be stored only on local servers as
>> a condition for market entry. This concept is enshrined within the TPP, but
>> that agreement has also drawn fire
>> <http://www.law360.com/articles/746082/obama-issues-formal-tpp-call-as-gop-clashes-loom> for
>> leaving the financial services sector on the outside of those protections.
>>
>> Even before launching new WTO talks on digital trade, the paper
>> recommended updating certain existing WTO pacts to better accommodate 21st
>> century traders, beginning with the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
>>
>> The TFA — which was completed in 2013 and has been ratified by 68 WTO
>> members — aims to streamline the flow of goods across borders around the
>> globe, but could be modernized by installing a unified de minimis customs
>> level under which no duties will applied, according to the experts’
>> recommendations.
>>
>> “For trade in lower value goods that the Internet is enabling, such costs
>> account for a relatively larger share of the total value, making it an even
>> more serious trade barrier,” the paper said.
>>
>> More broadly, the World Economic Forum and International Centre for Trade
>> and Sustainable Development experts said that throughout these processes,
>> there should be a robust dialogue between governments, the private sector
>> and advocacy groups that often pushed back against digital trade
>> liberalization because of privacy concerns.
>>
>> “Ensuring security of the network is one of the key issues that affects
>> consumer and business confidence in addition to the direct costs that
>> security breaches have on individual businesses,” they said.
>>
>> --Editing by Bruce Goldman.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> *Carolina Rossini *
>>
>> *Vice President, International Policy*
>>
>> *Public Knowledge*
>>
>> *http://www.publicknowledge.org/ <http://www.publicknowledge.org/>*
>>
>> + 1 6176979389 | skype: carolrossini | @carolinarossini
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> *Carolina Rossini *
>>
>> *Vice President, International Policy*
>>
>> *Public Knowledge*
>>
>> *http://www.publicknowledge.org/ <http://www.publicknowledge.org/>*
>>
>> + 1 6176979389 | skype: carolrossini | @carolinarossini
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> *Carolina Rossini *
>>
>> *Vice President, International Policy*
>>
>> *Public Knowledge*
>>
>> *http://www.publicknowledge.org/ <http://www.publicknowledge.org/>*
>>
>> + 1 6176979389 | skype: carolrossini | @carolinarossini
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
>
> *Carolina Rossini *
> *Vice President, International Policy*
> *Public Knowledge*
> *http://www.publicknowledge.org/ <http://www.publicknowledge.org/>*
> + 1 6176979389 | skype: carolrossini | @carolinarossini
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________
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