The four-day World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (MC14) concluded Monday in Yaounde, Cameroon, without resolving the contentious issue of extending the moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions.
Cameroon’s Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, chair of MC14, said trade ministers worked to conclude several negotiation areas during the meeting but “we ran out of time” on outstanding issues, including the WTO’s work programme on electronic commerce and continuation of moratoriums on customs duties for electronic transmissions and on non-violation complaints under the TRIPS Agreement.
Discussions will continue in Geneva, the WTO headquarters.
Talks on the e-commerce import duty ban reached a deadlock between Brazil and the United States. Some countries oppose an extension or favour a two-year renewal, while the US is pushing for a five-year extension.
Since 1998 WTO members have agreed not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions such as digital downloads and streaming, and the moratorium has been periodically extended at successive ministerial conferences. As digital revenues rise, governments’ ability to tax these imports and generate additional tariff revenue is limited by the moratorium.
India has opposed extensions on multiple occasions. The moratorium was last extended for two years at MC13 in Abu Dhabi in 2024, and it is set to expire at the end of this month.
Developing countries oppose renewal as they face rising imports of electronic transmissions—movies, music, video games and printed matter—that may fall under the moratorium, with associated revenue losses. Estimates put potential tariff revenue losses for developing countries at about USD 10 billion per year; for India, losses could exceed USD 500 million annually.
Expiry of the moratorium would allow countries to impose customs or import duties on electronic transmissions such as downloads and streaming services.
Upon conclusion of MC14, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed progress on a work programme to advance WTO reform discussions, agreed steps on further disciplines for harmful fisheries subsidies, and other issues.
The WTO said ministers agreed to continue negotiations on fisheries subsidies, aiming to make recommendations to the 15th Ministerial Conference for comprehensive disciplines. Ministers also adopted two MC14 decisions previously endorsed in Geneva: improving integration of small economies into the multilateral trading system, and enhancing precise, effective and operational implementation of special and differential treatment provisions in the SPS and TBT Agreements.
The Ministerial Conference, held every two years, is the WTO’s highest decision-making body. Nearly 2,000 trade officials, including more than 90 ministers, attended MC14 in Yaounde. It was only the second time the Ministerial Conference was held in Africa.
