The WTO of the Future: Keeping the WTO Digitally Relevant through the JSI on E-Commerce

Members of the WTO have long regarded e-commerce as an issue of lesser priority. Though seeking to tackle e-commerce issues since 1998 with a Work Programme, progress on enacting WTO law on the matter has remained largely stagnant. To combat two decades of relative inaction, the Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce was introduced in 2017. Now, within a decade, the JSI has drafted and released a finalised agreement which is now looked towards being integrated into the WTO legal framework. This article explores the history of the JSI, why it has been successful, and how it has overcome previous indifference of the WTO on e-commerce issues from the 1998 Work Programme. It will also highlight how the JSI does and should do to remain significant in today’s legal landscape where many plurilateral trade agreements concurrently emerge in tackling e-commerce issues.