WTO Joint Statement Initiative on E-commerce: Statement by Ministers of Australia, Japan and Singapore

December 14, 2021

1. Japan, Australia, and Singapore are the co-conveners of the WTO Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce. In that capacity, a ministerial statement was issued today by the Hon Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Australia; H.E. Mr. Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore; and Mr. Hayashi Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan.

2. We welcome the substantial progress made in the negotiations over the past three years, and will continue to lead them in order to secure convergence on the majority of the remaining issues by the end of 2022.

3. As the world becomes increasingly connected through digitalization, digital trade is making people more affluent the world over. The WTO has many Members, so providing it with rules on digital trade that materialize "Data Free Flow with Trust" (DFFT) will make business more predictable and stable. This will in turn promote further digital trade. With the aim of achieving early results, we will work to accelerate and add further impetus to the negotiations.

4. Unperturbed by the postponement of MC12, Japan will continue to make efforts to strengthen the WTO's capacities to address various economic and social issues, using initiatives among like-minded Members, as well as the Trilateral Meeting of the Trade Ministers of Japan, the United States and the European Union.

Division in Charge

Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade Policy Bureau