Information technology and e-commerce

«Les données sont le nouveau pétrole». Tout comme le pétrole, qui a fait tourner l’économie au cours du siècle dernier, les données sont le moteur du monde d’aujourd’hui. Cela est d’autant plus vrai pour le commerce international. Le rôle crucial que jouent les données est perceptible à toutes les étapes du processus, de la conception d’un nouveau produit à l’approvisionnement en matières premières et en pièces, en passant par le processus de fabrication et le transport des produits au-delà des frontières, pour que ceux-ci parviennent aux consommateurs du monde entier.

This chapter analyses the impact of the internet on global value chains (GVCs) in Africa. We investigate the effect of internet adoption on forward participation and backward participation of African countries in GVCs. We conduct the estimations using country-level data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Eora GVC database and firm-level data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Survey. We test whether internet adoption facilitates the participation of Africa in GVCs at the country level and the firm level. We find that internet use and internet infrastructure are more important for African firms and African countries in terms of forward GVC participation. To conclude, empirical results show that the internet increases GVC participation in Africa. African countries and firms need to improve internet infrastructure in order to make the best of integration into GVCs.

E-commerce has grown rapidly in Kenya, supported by laws governing information and communications technology (ICT) services, e-commerce transactions, data protection and access to information. The government has established one-stop shops for the provision of government services to citizens and for trade logistics. The country is well positioned to expand its digital trade with the establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), given the policies outlined in the government’s Digital Economy Blueprint. The growth of digital trade will open up new opportunities for the provision of online services, promote export diversification, boost efficiency and growth in manufacturing, improve competition in the financial sector, increase access to market-relevant information and increase market access for micro, small and mediumsized enterprises (MSMEs). However, the potential of digital trade is constrained by lack of access to financial services, low income, limited broadband and fibre coverage, inadequate transport infrastructure and skills gaps. Kenya’s legal and regulatory framework is insufficient to protect against cybercrime, ensure privacy, support the interoperability of mobile money platforms and banks, promote consumers’ trust in online transactions, protect intellectual property and protect digital sites from liability for customers’ posts.

This chapter analyses the potential for e-commerce activities in Africa. The rapid growth of internet penetration and the use of mobile telephony, along with the adoption of mobile innovations that have greatly boosted financial inclusion and encouraged reliance on electronic payment, have established a strong basis for e-commerce development on the continent. On the other hand, still-low banking rates, fragile laws and regulations governing the sector, and a lack of cross-country harmonization of these rules constrain African e-commerce. Reducing cybercrime, increasing participation in the financial sector and strengthening of the legal framework are key steps to promote e-commerce activities.

The emergence of e-commerce is driving important changes in the ways of conducting international trade. It has become clear that improvements in trade facilitation implementation should be supported by electronic systems. Through a comparative study of a number of reports issued by international organizations – the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Bank – on topics of e-commerce, logistics and trade facilitation, we examined the status and performance of Jordan, Oman and Hong Kong, China. Based on this analysis, Hong Kong, China, shows one of the best practices of modern trade facilitation and customs, and we found that governmental willingness is influential in expediting trade facilitation provisions. Jordan and Oman recently made trade reforms to improve trade facilitation, but they still need to bridge the gap between policy and actual practice in all governmental organizations in terms of trade facilitation and e-commerce, as well as build citizens’ capacity. By improving the implementation of trade facilitation measures and increasing e-commerce capacity as Hong Kong, China, has done, Jordan and Oman will succeed through trade prosperity driven by the global digital economy.

This study explores the status, challenges and opportunities of e-commerce in Mauritius. The share of the population making online purchases was 14 per cent in 2017, the secondhighest level (after Libya) in Africa, largely due to increases in internet use and penetration, coupled with increased credit card usage and the development of secure online payment systems. And Mauritius topped the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) B2C E-commerce Index (e-readiness) for Africa. A survey of customers revealed high levels of satisfaction with online shopping, due to wider choices, the ability to save time, accessibility and the relative ease of searching for products online. Major concerns included uneasiness over disclosure of personal information and limited ability to contact vendors. Respondents who have not shopped online cited concerns over navigating online, payment security and high costs. Online sellers expressed considerable optimism over future market growth, but also were concerned over a local bias towards international websites, technical limitations of internet service and the small market size. Interviews with policymakers cited the strong legal and regulatory framework supporting electronic payments, but described a need for stronger regulatory cooperation with other countries on e-commerce, and more work to collect statistics. Technical assistance would be useful in these efforts.

Tax rates on e-commerce in Russia should remain moderate, given the small size of its digital trade operations (so the rise in tax revenues from higher rates would be small) and substantial growth prospects (so future tax revenues from a developed sector could be quite large). The Russian Federation’s (Russia’s) taxation of e-commerce activities presents two important challenges. First, consumer goods purchased directly from foreign online sellers enjoy significant tax advantages compared to imports purchased in Russian retail outlets, undermining the profitability of Russian importers and reducing tax revenues. Second, the value-added tax (VAT) levied on foreign exporters of electronic services creates uncertainty because the legal definition of electronic services is unclear and impedes the operations of multinational companies in Russia because VAT is taxed on intra-firm imports of services. Russian authorities are establishing effective automated systems for collecting taxes and customs duties on cross-border e-commerce, calculating VAT compensation to exporters and accounting for receipts from online stores. These systems will help to prevent abuse of the tax system, as well as reduce the cost of compliance by firms.

“Data is the new oil”. Just like oil, which powered the economy in the last century, data are what moves the world today. This is especially true for international trade. The crucial role played by data can be observed at every step of the process, from the conception of a new product and the sourcing of raw materials and parts, to the manufacturing process and the transportation of products across borders, until they finally reach the hands of consumers from every corner of the world.

The dollar value of e-commerce transactions in China has increased enormously over the past 20 years, supported by improved infrastructure, the rapid growth of mobile telephony and increased financing. The market also is characterized by increasing diversity, for example, the growth of e-medical services, the expansion of cross-border e-commerce and the development of online-offline transactions. China’s national government has played an important role in the development of e-commerce through policies elaborated in five-year plans, while regional governments also have participated in planning and adjusting the e-commerce policy framework in light of local conditions.

While recent technological advances have supported an increase in digital trade, this growth has occurred with a lack of clear and defined rules. This deficiency has become an issue for Latin American countries. With the multilateral trade regime impasse, more complex regional and bilateral agreements have emerged. The formulation of digital trade regulation raises many questions. In this chapter we deal with the new rules on digital trade in regional trade agreements (RTAs) recently negotiated by Latin American economies. In this work, special emphasis is given to comparing the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the most advanced RTAs regarding these issues.

The study explores structural and practical issues following the adoption of Indonesia’s e-commerce roadmap (2017–2019) and its implications for the future of the country’s digital economy. Two major categories of issues are examined in order to identify problems and challenges confronted by related stakeholders. The first category, i.e. the structural one, relates to the larger governance context of the country’s digital economy to which e-commerce activities are attached. The governance context includes the legal and regulatory context, the institutionalizing mechanism and the implementing phases, which involve socio- and politico-economic interplays among its key players. The second category represents practical dimensions, which involve questions on the mitigation of and adaptation to concepts, models and practices in the digital economy. Indonesia’s position on the moratorium on e-commerce and the local initiatives on digital economy are presented to illustrate mitigation efforts by related stakeholders in areas where disagreements and negotiations on certain structural and practical policy issues have arisen, i.e. on Indonesia’s position on the World Trade Organization (WTO) moratorium on e-commerce and local initiatives (such as the ones in Yogyakarta) to develop a digital economy.

2021 has highlighted the critical role that Customs play in enabling global trade. To make the global supply chains of the future more efficient, Smart Customs have to minimize Customs clearance time and costs, while intelligently managing inbound and outbound goods and vehicles. Disruptive technologies such as IoT devices are enabling autonomous equipment to drive effective monitoring of cargo and tracking of journeys.

The promise of TradeTech – the set of technologies that enables global trade to become more efficient, inclusive and sustainable – is multifaceted, from trade facilitation to efficiency gains and reduced costs, to greater transparency and resilience of supply chains. Of particular interest for this publication is the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) and the internet of things (IoT) to shape the global trade ecosystem.

On average, a cross-border transaction requires the exchange of 36 documents and 240 copies (Fletcher, 2019). A shipment of roses from Kenya to Rotterdam can generate a pile of paper 25 cm high, and the cost of handling it can be higher than the cost of moving the containers (Allison, 2016).

Businesses operate in an environment of increasing legal complexity. At a global level, trade compliance is particularly time consuming and costly, as enterprises need to be aware of and comply with rules under different international agreements as well as meet their contractual obligations.

This toolkit aims at raising awareness of the technical and legal tools to be called upon to adopt cross-border paperless trade systems and national single windows (NSWs).

Using electronic documents and transactions can speed up and increase trade. Electronic messages can eliminate the need to enter data into a computer manually at each supply chain checkpoint and can provide opportunities for the potential reuse of data.

This section provides a set of recommendations regarding the introduction and scaling up of technologies by Customs. These recommendations were provided by Customs, the private sector and academia in discussions held on different occasions in the last four years, including at the October 2017 Permanent Technical Committee, the annual dialogue held between the Private Sector Consultative Group and the Policy Commission in June 2018, the WCO technology conferences and regional workshops on disruptive technologies held in 2021 and 2022, the WTO 2018 research workshop and the 2019 and 2021 Global Trade and Blockchain Forums.

El uso de documentos y transacciones electrónicos puede acelerar y aumentar el comercio. Los mensajes electrónicos pueden eliminar la necesidad de introducir datos en un ordenador manualmente en cada puesto de control de la cadena de suministro y posibilitan la reutilización de los datos.