Drafting e-commerce regulations for a sustainable economic recovery: Lesson from DEPA analysis

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5335/rjd.v36i2.13390

Keywords:

APEC, Latin America, free trade agreements, e-commerce, digital economy, DEPA

Abstract

The current international pandemic situation caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted economic activity and development worldwide. However, digital enabled activities have proven a relative stronger resilience, and, worldwide, most economic sectors have shifted to digital platforms to continue operating. In this context, the drafting of digital economy regulations has become a relevant policy issue for governments across the Asia Pacific region. Nevertheless, the absence of multilateral regulations in this area has become an obstacle for achieving common regulatory frameworks to deal with digital economy issues, for which regional and bilateral agreements have begun to draft regulations. The proliferation of digital economy provisions in preferential agreements may lead to the so called “spaghetti bowl”. From here, the objective of this paper is to contribute to the governance of digital economy among APEC economies, through the characterization of free trade agreements signed between APEC and Latin American economies. This selection was made due to the diversity of agreements that can be found within this subregion. In this context, the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), led by Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore has become a reference point that could serve as a stepping stone towards common regulatory frameworks in this matter. The paper concludes that DEPA may be used as a benchmark for the development of regulations that will help boost cross border e-commerce in APEC economies for a post pandemic sustainable recovery.

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Author Biographies

  • Felipe Munoz, Institute of International Studies, University of Chile

    Associate Professor at the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile and Guest Researcher at the Fudan Development Institute, China. He has a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in international studies, both from the University of Chile. His main areas of research are trade policy and international economics, with special emphasis on Latin America. He has participated in several research projects, including the WTO Chairs program and the Virtual Institute of the UNCTAD, as well as consultant for the World Bank, IDB, JETRO, SUBREI and ProChile. E-mail: fmunozn@uchile.cl

  • Javiera Cáceres, University of Chile

    Instructor Professor at the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile, Legal Research Fellow at the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) and PhD. Fellow at the Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science. She holds a BA in English Literature and Linguistics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and a MA in International Strategy and Trade Policy at the University of Chile. She has been a consultant for the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, ECLAC, the Chilean Under-Secretariat of International Economic Affairs, and ProChile on international trade and trade policy issues. Her main research interests are intellectual property, trade and development, and trade and gender. At the University of Chile, she worked with the Chilean WTO Chair on trade policy issues and was granted amongst others, a research grant by the Chilean Ministry of Culture to investigate the relationship between artificial intelligence and copyrights for the editorial industry. E-mail: javcaceres@uchile.cl

Published

2022-10-03

How to Cite

Drafting e-commerce regulations for a sustainable economic recovery: Lesson from DEPA analysis. (2022). Law of Justice Journal, 36(2), 69-104. https://doi.org/10.5335/rjd.v36i2.13390