At the World Economic Forum in Davos, 76 partners - the European Union and 48 other members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) decided to start negotiations to put in place global rules on electronic commerce.

WTO rules on e-commerce will aim to enhance opportunities and address challenges of e-commerce in both developed and developing countries. The negotiations should result in a multilateral legal framework that consumers and businesses, especially smaller ones, could rely on to make it easier and safer to buy, sell and do business online. The new rules would for instance:

• improve consumers' trust in the on-line environment and combat spam
• tackle barriers that prevent cross-border sales
• guarantee validity of e-contracts and e-signatures
• permanently ban customs duties on electronic transmissions
• address forced data localisation requirements and forced disclosure of source code