Category: E-Commerce and the Digital Economy

Un atelier national sur les implications pour le Sénégal de la déclaration conjointe sur le commerce électronique, s’est tenu ce jeudi à Dakar. L’objectif de ce conclave vise à présenter les résultats d’une étude de l’adhésion du Sénégal à la déclaration conjointe de l’OMC sur le e-commerce.

Speaking during the ceremony, Ms Marion Jansen, Chief Economist of the International Trade Centre (ITC), said that an important objective of capacity development programmes was to help participants overcome their fear of unknown subjects, and of asking questions. Successful programmes are the ones that help participants lose their fears to ask the questions they need to answer in order to take informed decisions.

Mr Rashid S. Kaukab, Executive Director, CUTS International Geneva, complimented the participants on their sustained engagement during the course, as well as their questions and observations that enriched the discussion. He was confident that the materials and lectures will remain relevant sources for them in their ongoing and future work.

Mr Angel Gonzalez-Sanz, Chief of the Science, Technology and ICT Branch, Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD, said that the knowledge gained from the course will help diplomats further interact and engage in upcoming digital trade-related discussions.

Welcoming the course as a model for the Geneva Initiative on Capacity Development in Digital Policy, Mr Michael Kleiner, economic development officer, State of Geneva Directorate General for Economic Development, explained that capacity development in the field of digital policy can draw on the wide expertise available in Geneva.

Prof. Jovan Kurbalija, Director of DiploFoundation and Head of the Geneva Internet Platform, who presided over the ceremony, stressed that the course contributed towards a more inclusive and informed debate on the future of digital commerce. An informed search for policy convergences is particularly important at a time where there are many divergent views on digital policy.

The course covered a wide range of issues of relevance to current e-commerce discussions, with particular emphasis on the intersection between digital policy and trade. Participants had the opportunity to engage in the study of topics such as emerging online business models, e-payments, digital currencies, taxation, competition, cybersecurity, encryption, privacy and data protection, cross-border data flows, data localisation, regional trade agreements and multilateral discussions at the World Trade Organisation. The blended learning course format included weekly face-to-face meetings.

The ceremony of delivery of certificates was preceded by a lecture on Blockchain technology and Bitcoin, delivered by Diplo’s cryptocurrency expert Mr Arvin Kamberi. At the end of the ceremony, certificates were delivered in traditional format as well as in digital format through blockchain, in order to provide an example of the use of this technology for authentication.

“Indeed, on 5th of December 1980 the United Nations adopted the UN Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices, which to date remains the only multilaterally agreed instrument on Competition Policy and paved the way for enormous progress on consumer welfare”, he added.

This year, celebrations addressed the theme “Ensuring Effective Competition in an Increasingly Online World.” The online economy is increasingly witnessing consolidation with a few large players left to cater to large swaths of consumers. In this context, it is important to understand how best competition and regulatory regimes can best deliver on their mandate.

Experts on the panel noted that digital markets present unique features that are posing new questions and challenges for competition authorities around the world. Digital platforms are often multi-sided markets, where network effects take a central importance to quickly attract more users than rivals and gain a data advantage. This encourages firms to pursue growth over profits, and engage in a “winner-takes-all” race where they fight for the market rather than in the market. As a result, digital markets tend to be monopolistic.

Pricing structures online are also different, since zero-pricing on one side of a platform is a common strategy used to attract users on the side of a platform. Online shopping and algorithms have also enabled digital firms to personalise prices based on the perceived readiness of a consumer to pay. In addition, digital businesses are also characterised by large initial investments which may act as barriers for new entrants, as well as the tendency of tech giants to diversify into conglomerates.

These unique features have led competition agencies to grapple with new questions and challenges, particularly as defining the relevant market of a platform – and hence its market power and potential abuse of it – is not easy. For instance, is Uber a transportation service provider or a mere “matchmaker” like a flight comparator? Such questions are important to determine the laws applicable to platforms, not only for competition but also labour, tax etc. Moreover, traditional market definition tools are based on prices, and tend to become less relevant in the age of zero pricing.

Similarly, the “consumer welfare” standard traditionally used by competition authorities seeks to ensure that consumers are not charged unfair prices as a result of anti-competitive practices. Data and zero pricing have long been absent from the picture, despite their critical role on competitive relationships. Recently however, some authorities have engaged in adapting their regime, such as the new German Competition Law which now clarifies that even free services can constitute a market. The law also introduced a list of new data-related criteria for assessing market power in multi-sided markets.

Panellists also stressed the need for ensuring predictability and coherent enforcement across jurisdictions globally. Indeed, while digital markets are borderless, global firms are subject to over 130 different competition regimes. It was recalled that no international set of competition rules exists to date. Nevertheless, some elements of competition can be found in certain WTO agreements, and recent proposals by a few members in the context of the WTO joint statement initiative on e-commerce have shown interest in addressing competition aspects.

On the panel were Philippe Brusick, Former Head of Competition Branch of UNCTAD, and Chairperson of the General Assembly, CUTS International, Geneva; Julien Grollier, Senior Programme Officer, CUTS International, Geneva; Nadezhda Sporysheva, Legal/Economic Analyst, Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Policy Division, WTO; Ahsan Ali, Trade Policy Analyst, Council and TNC Division, WTO Secretariat; Justine Lan, Economic Affairs Officer, Development Division, WTO Secretariat; and Ebru Gokce Dessemond, Legal Officer, Competition and Consumer Policies Branch, International Trade Division, UNCTAD.

This was posited by Foreign Secretary, Carl Greenidge, during the opening of a National Workshop on E-Commerce, held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, earlier on Thursday.

‘We can set priorities and from this study receive some guidance on the necessary reforms to develop our e-commerce architecture,’ Greenidge told the participants, adding that there is also an international dimension to the exercise.

‘You will hear during the course of today’s seminar that the World Trade Organisation has taken up e-commerce, MSMEs and investment facilitation for development, inter alia, as part of a bundle of new issues on which to negotiate multilateral agreements,’ he explained.

Foreign Secretary Greenidge delivers the keynote address. Also pictured: Dr. Dianna Glasgow, Director of Foreign TradeStakeholders engage in discussions on electronic commerce.

However, Greenidge stated that although most participants agreed that e-commerce and digital trade can support economic development, especially by providing an effective way for small companies in less developed countries to engage in global trade, conflicting views stall negotiation on new e-commerce related rules.

‘In my view, a global regime with equitable rules on which countries engage in these activities are needed. The specifics remain to be agreed.’

He also mentioned that there was need for the digital divide to be bridged.

The Foreign Secretary shared that Government’s Green State Development Strategy embraces the concept of the digital economy as a way to support economic diversification; e-commerce to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and e-government to improve access and efficiency of government services.

‘Pursuant to this strategy, there are several projects to develop the necessary architecture for e-commerce; including the national payment system project to reduce the number of cash-based transactions, the trade facilitation roadmap to reduce customs clearance time and the cost thereof,’ he stated.

Adding that more recently, there has been exponential growth in the number of local companies offering logistics services in Guyana, as well as some initial work having already started on updating Guyana’s intellectual property legislation and cybercrime legislation to protect the public online.

Greenidge said undoubtedly, e-commerce is revolutionising how the world trades. ‘It is arguable that these changes are symptomatic of a paradigm shift in global business. E-commerce can be a catalyst for boosting economic transformation.’