The four-day World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, ended without agreement on whether to extend the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions. Chair and Cameroon Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana said ministers made progress on several files but “ran out of time” on outstanding items, notably the WTO work programme on electronic commerce and continuation of moratoriums on customs duties for electronic transmissions and on non-violation complaints under the TRIPS Agreement. Negotiations will continue at WTO headquarters in Geneva.
Talks on the moratorium reached a deadlock largely between Brazil and the United States. Positions vary: some members oppose renewal or prefer only a two-year extension, while the United States has pushed for a five-year renewal. The moratorium, in place since 1998, prohibits customs duties on digital deliveries such as downloads and streaming and has been extended periodically at ministerial meetings. Critics warn that as digital revenues grow, the moratorium constrains governments’ ability to tax these imports and raise tariff revenue.
India has repeatedly opposed extensions. The moratorium was last renewed for two years at MC13 in Abu Dhabi in 2024 and is due to expire at the end of this month. Developing countries have argued that renewed exemptions mean rising imports of digital content—movies, music, games and electronic publications—can erode tariff revenue. Estimates cited by delegates put potential tariff losses for developing countries at about USD 10 billion per year, with India’s losses possibly exceeding USD 500 million annually. If the moratorium lapses, members would be free to impose customs or import duties on electronic transmissions.
Beyond e-commerce, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed forward movement on a work programme to advance WTO reforms and on further disciplines to curb harmful fisheries subsidies. Ministers agreed to continue fisheries-subsidy negotiations with a view to making recommendations to the 15th Ministerial Conference and formally adopted two MC14 decisions already endorsed in Geneva: measures to better integrate small economies into the multilateral trading system, and to strengthen practical implementation of special and differential treatment provisions under the SPS and TBT agreements.
MC14—held every two years and the WTO’s highest decision-making forum—drew nearly 2,000 trade officials, including more than 90 ministers. It was only the second time the Ministerial Conference has been held in Africa.
