Vast technological advancements in recent decades, such as the internet and mobile devices, have revolutionised the execution of online transactions involving the transmission of products, services, and payments. This trend is particularly apparent in the Asia-Pacific region, which, in 2013, became the leader in e-commerce – surpassing Europe and North America.
However, the economic prospects do not coincide with the stability of the underlying legal framework. Apart from the recent conclusion of the revised Information Technology Agreement (ITA), the WTO legal framework is stuck at a standstill; WTO law in its current form does not seem fit to meet the realities of today’s online society. Although efforts to adapt WTO law to digital trade started in a very promising way with the Work Programme on E-Commerce of 1998, no substantive progress has been made since then. Consequently, the situation at the multilateral level is characterised by legal gaps. Governments, investors, traders as well as consumers, however, need solutions to the uncertainties more urgently than ever because e-commerce is steadily progressing.
This need is reflected in the most recent legal developments in the Asia-Pacific. The proliferation of bilateral and regional trade agreements can be seen as an innovation with respect to the cross-border promotion of e-commerce. A large number of newer Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) include specific e-commerce chapters. Nevertheless, this development is not steady but has followed certain waves.
2000-2002: Paperless trading
Whereas the Western world witnessed a veritable “boom” of PTAs in the 1990s, economic relationships in Asia were still overshadowed by historical and political tensions. However, this changed rapidly after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, and regionalism in the form of institutional cooperation and PTAs became increasingly popular.
However, in this initial phase, e-commerce was still in its infancy and thus not an issue for PTAs. Nevertheless, the first bilateral PTAs in Asia already recognised the importance of fostering electronic trade and thus started including chapters on “paperless trading.” The Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership, concluded in 2000 – encompasses a provision on “paperless trading” in Chapter 4. This provision makes a reference to the “APEC Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce” and calls upon the parties to implement an “electronic environment that supports electronic business applications between each Customs administration and its trading community.” Similarly, the 2002 Agreement between Japan and Singapore for a New-Age Economic Partnership contains a Chapter on “paperless trading” which calls upon the parties to mutually recognise electronic documents as well as e-certification and on a structural level and even establishes a “Joint Committee on Paperless Trading.”
2003: The birth of e-commerce chapters
Vast technological advancements in recent decades, such as the internet and mobile devices, have revolutionised the execution of online transactions involving the transmission of products, services, and payments. This trend is particularly apparent in the Asia-Pacific region, which, in 2013, became the leader in e-commerce – surpassing Europe and North America.However, the economic prospects do not coincide with the stability of the underlying legal framework. Apart from the recent conclusion of the revised Information Technology Agreement (ITA), the WTO legal framework is stuck at a standstill; WTO law in its current form does not seem fit to meet the realities of today’s online society. Although efforts to adapt WTO law to digital trade started in a very promising way with the Work Programme on E-Commerce of 1998, no substantive progress has been made since then. Consequently, the situation at the multilateral level is characterised by legal gaps. Governments, investors, traders as well as consumers, however, need solutions to the uncertainties more urgently than ever because e-commerce is steadily progressing.This need is reflected in the most recent legal developments in the Asia-Pacific. The proliferation of bilateral and regional trade agreements can be seen as an innovation with respect to the cross-border promotion of e-commerce. A large number of newer Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) include specific e-commerce chapters. Nevertheless, this development is not steady but has followed certain waves.2000-2002: Paperless tradingWhereas the Western world witnessed a veritable “boom” of PTAs in the 1990s, economic relationships in Asia were still overshadowed by historical and political tensions. However, this changed rapidly after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, and regionalism in the form of institutional cooperation and PTAs became increasingly popular.However, in this initial phase, e-commerce was still in its infancy and thus not an issue for PTAs. Nevertheless, the first bilateral PTAs in Asia already recognised the importance of fostering electronic trade and thus started including chapters on “paperless trading.” The Agreement between New Zealand and Singapore on a Closer Economic Partnership, concluded in 2000 – encompasses a provision on “paperless trading” in Chapter 4. This provision makes a reference to the “APEC Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce” and calls upon the parties to implement an “electronic environment that supports electronic business applications between each Customs administration and its trading community.” Similarly, the 2002 Agreement between Japan and Singapore for a New-Age Economic Partnership contains a Chapter on “paperless trading” which calls upon the parties to mutually recognise electronic documents as well as e-certification and on a structural level and even establishes a “Joint Committee on Paperless Trading.”2003: The birth of e-commerce chapters
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