On the first day of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that there is a need for a careful reconsideration of the further extension of the moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce trade.
“A dysfunctional Dispute Settlement System has deprived members from effective redressal. We must restore the automatic and binding dispute settlement system,” he said. Since 2009, the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism has not been functioning properly as the US has stalled appointments of Members in the Appellate Body. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Members have agreed not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions since 1998, and the moratorium has been periodically extended at successive ministerial conferences (MC), which is the highest decision-making body of the 166-member body.