Joint E-commerce Declaration Between Switzerland And US Signed

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

14 October 2008

On October 10, Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard and the US Trade Representative Susan Schwab signed a joint declaration on e-commerce in Washington, D.C.

The declaration envisages cooperation between Switzerland and the USA with a view to improving trade conditions for e-commerce.

In the joint declaration, Switzerland and the USA state their intention to facilitate and encourage electronic commerce, prevent discriminatory measures, guarantee users a higher degree of legal certainty and establish the necessary climate of trust and confidence for electronic transactions. The two parties declare their desire to work together in this regard within the World Trade Organisation and other relevant international organisations, as well as to continue their cooperation at the bilateral level.

Today, states the Declaration, e-commerce is an everyday feature of commercial activity. Businesses increasingly use it as a more efficient means of conducting purchase and sales transactions, and private individuals are tending to order more goods and services online. The availability of digital products and services delivered electronically is constantly growing both nationally and internationally. In this context Switzerland and the USA aim to work together to strengthen the multilateral trading system.

This joint declaration on e-commerce was developed under the Swiss-US Cooperation Forum on Trade and Investment.

Recommended