No global e-tail rules till data issues resolved: Goyal

NEW DELHI: India has made it clear that it is not ready for global rules on e-commerce till issues around data flow and welfare of the poor are addressed, amid mounting pressure from the United States, Europe and Japan, which has made an international framework on digital trade a central theme at the G20.

"Issues of privacy and security should be given due consideration in the debate on Data Free Flow with Trust. Clarity on all these issues is essential, before embarking on 'rule making' on e-commerce. It is for this reason India does not, at this stage, support the joint initiative on e-commerce. We believe all nations should appreciate that the digital divide within and across nations is a serious impediment for developing countries to benefit from digital trade," commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said at a meeting of G20 trade ministers over the weekend.

Goyal's stand at the meeting comes at a time when an alliance of 70 WTO members is seeking an international framework that will benefit the likes of Amazon and Uber. Although, China too is part of the group, it has supported a more calibrated approach to talks.

At the weekend's gathering, Goyal also hit out at the Trump administration for its attempts to create a chasm between the developing world through a proposal that seeks to get countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa to undertake steeper tariff cuts and more ambitious subsidy reduction under the WTO framework. Currently, all developing country members are part of one group.

"India believes that the reform process should not undermine the WTO's fundamental principles, namely, 'special and differential treatment', 'consensus' based decision making and objective of development," Goyal said.

He also demanded preferential market access to MSMEs in developing countries to be part of the global supply chains.