Digital trade and data - Which? submission to the International Trade Committee

Summary:

• Which? recommends several actions the Government must take to ensure consumers can have confidence that their interests are being fully reflected and protected in trade policy and trade deals. This includes enhancing cross-border consumer protection; ensuring strong data protection, maintaining the UK’s ability to regulate online harms, protecting the UK’s strong net neutrality principle and ensuring that consumers reap additional benefits from digital trade.
• Analysis of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan, the first major trade deal that the UK signed since leaving the EU, shows that there are elements which already set some worrying precedents in terms of the extent to which the Government is protecting and future-proofing consumer interests in the digital sphere.
• In negotiations considering a UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) the Government should be acutely aware of the detrimental implications certain digital trade provisions within the CPTPP could have for UK consumers, specifically in the areas of data protection and privacy.
• The Government’s approach to digital trade on the global stage should contain a consumer-centric outlook when looking at the extension of the World Trade Organization (WTO)moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, engaging in international developments such as the WTO e-commerce negotiations, and when evaluating international legislation and guidelines that are relevant for the UK’s digital trade policy alongside domestic law.