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India has submitted two papers in the World Trade Organization related to consumer protection and digital infrastructure part of the e-commerce sector to initiate discussion on the subject before deliberating a final agreement, government officials said on Friday. The country wants member countries of Geneva-based WTO to discuss all these issues 'threadbare' before initiating negotiations on binding commitments or rules on the e-commerce sector. Joint Secretary in the commerce ministry Darpan Jain said the e-commerce sector is rapidly growing across the globe and as it has implications on developing and poor nations, it should be discussed in a multilateral setting in WTO and not among a group of countries. At present, a group of 87 countries, mostly developed, are negotiating to frame a pact on e-commerce rules. These two papers, he said "will form a basis for discussion. We have not proposed any rules or any binding obligations". "We are saying that plurilateral discussions have
World Trade Organization arbitrators concluded Wednesday that the United States was out of line in requiring products from Hong Kong to be labeled as Made in China, a move that was part of Washington's response to a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters there in 2019 and 2020. A WTO dispute panel found the US violated its obligations under the trade body's rules and rejected Washington's argument that U.S. essential security interests allowed for such labeling. The panel said the situation did not pose an emergency that would allow for an exemption under the trade body's rules. The United States or Hong Kong could appeal the ruling to the WTO's appeals court. However, the Appellate Body is currently inactive because the U.S. has almost single-handedly held up appointments of new members to the court amid concerns it had strayed beyond its mandate. As a result, any such appeal would go into an arbitration void and remain unsettled. The United States trade representative's office all