The World Trade Organization (WTO) has agreed to extend by two years the moratorium on e-commerce under which countries do not charge tariffs on imports.

WTO Members took this decision at the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13), held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In particular, e-commerce in Latin America is growing rapidly, but still represents a small fraction of the total retail market. According to Insider Intelligence, e-commerce in Latin America grew to $144.7 billion in 2023, a growth rate of 14.3% over 2022, making it one of the fastest growing regions.

Moratorium on e-commerce

At the same time, it represents only approximately 10.1% of all total retail sales in Latin America, a 5-year lag compared to the current global e-commerce penetration of 19.5%, which for digital commerce platform VTEX, to take a case in point, presents an opportunity and a runway for growth as more sales move online.

«We agree to maintain the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until the fourteenth session of the Ministerial Conference. The moratorium and the Work Program will expire on that date,» says the agreement published by the WTO, pending formal approval.