UK joins new global digital trade agreement

The UK is among the 90 countries to have signed up to a new global digital trade agreement at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The E-Commerce Joint Initiative follows five years of negotiations at the WTO and aims to boost global digital trade (estimated to be worth around £4 trillion by the OECD), by making it faster, cheaper, fairer and more secure.

Once implemented, the agreement will commit participating countries to adopting digital customs documents and processes, recognition of e-documents and digital signatures, permanently ban customs duties on digital content. Countries will also need to have legal safeguards in place to protect against online fraud as part of the initiative.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:

“We are proud to play our part in securing the first ever global digital trade agreement, cutting costs for business and delivering on this government’s ambition to deliver economic growth.

“Britain is back and proudly playing her role as an outward looking trading nation. Global digital trade is already estimated by the OECD to be worth around £4 trillion and counting but no common set of global rules exist. This is a huge step forward in correcting that and ensuring British businesses feel the benefit.“

Science Secretary Peter Kyle said:

“This global agreement aims to help people use technology safely by protecting them from fraud, while driving economic growth through the digitalisation of trade so it’s faster and more secure.

“We will leave no stone unturned in our work to share the benefits of technology and drive economic growth by working with partners around the world to achieve this.“

For UK businesses doing business overseas in a participating countries, trade will require far fewer paper contracts and invoices, or manual signatures or authentication; these will be replaced with their electronic equivalents.

Chris Southworth, Secretary General, International Chambers of Commerce UK said:

“Businesses and economies thrive when there is one common set of rules. The E-Commerce Agreement is a major breakthrough and an excellent reminder of the power of international collaboration. It creates the environment we need to drive innovation as we transition away from archaic paper-based processes and into the modern world of data and technology.

“It is an opportunity to accelerate efforts to digitalise our borders and global supply chains, and help to remove unnecessary friction and costs that prevent SMEs from trading. This is good news for business, consumers and the economy.“

Matt Hammerstein, Head of Barclays UK Corporate Bank said:

“As co-chair of the Trade Digitisation Taskforce with ICC United Kingdom, we have worked closely with the Government to support efforts to secure the competitiveness of UK exports, champion the digitalisation of trade at scale and continue to work on streamlining processes related to fraud and financial crime risk.

“We welcome this announcement, which will help make the trade process easier for small, medium and large-sized businesses in the UK by removing paper-based barriers to trade. Barclays stands ready to play its part in supporting the success of British exports.“