As U.S. and European negotiators meet in Brussels today to launch the eighth round of Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) negotiations, ITI encourages them to reach concrete progress on provisions to support the continued growth of the digital economy. By building upon previous commitments that promote the growth of key aspects of the digital economy, including ensuring that the digital ecosystem and the data that flows through it remain open to innovation and commerce globally, the T-TIP can set the global gold standard for 21st century trade issues.
The technology that enables the 21st century digital economy should not be overlooked by T-TIP negotiators. Negotiators should seize this opportunity to set rules that support the development and growth of, and trade in, information and communications technology (ICT) goods and services, cloud computing, and e-commerce.
To this end, ITI and DIGITALEUROPE released a joint paper today with recommendations on provisions to reduce excessive regulatory costs, unjustified regulatory differences, and duplicative or unnecessary red tape for ICT goods. The paper includes detailed proposals for an “ICT annex” in the agreement that would address alignment of principles on technology standards, testing and certification requirements, e-accessibility, e-labeling, treatment of products with encryption in commercial markets, e-health and m-health, and the Internet of Things.
The transatlantic ICT industry believes that transparency and regulatory cooperation on these issues are laudable and achievable goals for T-TIP negotiators. Setting the bar for ICT trade by promoting sound regulatory approaches can serve as a model for other nations that are looking to adopt policies to promote innovation and manufacturing that are free of trade-distorting discrimination.