GENEVA: India, South Africa, and Indonesia have boycotted the “Osaka Track" on the “digital economy" at the G20 leaders’ summit in Osaka on Saturday, as it overtly undermined “multilateral" principles of consensus-based decisions in global trade negotiations, and denied "policy space" for digital-industrialisation in developing countries, say analysts. Japan, which hosted the G20 leaders’ summit in Osaka on 29 June, attempted behind the scenes to legitimize the informal plurilateral (two or more countries) negotiations on digital trade that were never approved at the World Trade Organization. Much of the proposed plurilateral rules on digital trade are based on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPATPP), say analysts. Against this backdrop, India, South Africa, and Indonesia among others chose not to sign the declaration on Osaka Track because it would fundamentally undermine the core WTO principles for arriving at consensus-based decisions. The G20 leaders also “reaffirmed the importance of the (1998) Work Program on electronic commerce at the WTO," as insisted by India, South Africa, and China among others.

Source: Mint June 30, 2019 12:45 UTC