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2 results

Digital Services in International Trade Law
  • Ines Willemyns
  • Published online:
    30 September 2021
    Print publication:
    30 September 2021
  • Digitisation has significantly impacted international trade. This book explains the impact of digitisation on trade in services, the ensuing concept of 'digital services' and the different types of trade barriers these services face. This book establishes that the legal framework that applies to trade in services also applies to digital services. It elaborates on the scope of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and how to classify digital services. The relevant GATS obligations are subsequently applied to several case studies that illustrate the barriers to digital services trade. These case studies demonstrate the impact of the applicability of GATS to digital services on countries' international obligations. Finally, the book maps the electronic commerce-related provisions in in regional trade agreements (RTAs). Six extensive e-commerce RTAs are compared in depth and it is considered whether they add substantially to the existing multilateral obligations applicable to digital services trade.

  • 5 - Classification of Digital Services within the GATS Framework

  • from Part II - Classification of Digital Services
  • Ines Willemyns, Sidley Austin LLP, Brussels
  • Book:
    Digital Services in International Trade Law
    Published online:
    30 September 2021
    Print publication:
    30 September 2021, pp 117-178

  • Summary

    This chapter discusses the classification of digital services using the GATS services classification system. The chapter first elaborates on how services are classified under the GATS and the role of the evolutionary approach, the customary rules of treaty interpretation, the existence of integrated services and the focus on outputs. The chapter subsequently distinguishes between three classification methodologies (the textual approach, the component-based approach and the teleological approach) and explains why the technological approach to services classification is preferable. The teleological approach is then applied to examples of both digital infrastructure services and digitally enabled services. The chapter elaborates on the distinction between transmission and content, the confusion on how to classify ‘new’ services and the misplaced focus on the service suppliers’ revenue source. This chapter thereby proposes a clear and consistent classification methodology that allows for straightforward classification of digital services.