After five years of negotiations, the UK and 90 other countries have finalised the E-Commerce Joint Initiative at the World Trade Organization. It will seek to help British businesses, workers and consumers seize the opportunities of global digital trade, estimated by the OECD to be worth around £4 trillion and growing. 

Once implemented, the ‘Agreement on Electronic Commerce’ will commit participants to the digitalisation of customs documents and processes. This will in many cases end the need for printed forms at customs.

The agreement also commits signatories to recognising e-documents and e-signatures, reducing the need for businesses to physically sign contracts and post them around the world.

Responding to the announcement, business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said “We are proud to play our part in securing the first ever global digital trade agreement, cutting costs for business and delivering on this government’s ambition to deliver economic growth.”

For UK financial services providers, doing business in any of the participating countries will require fewer paper contracts and invoices, or manual signatures, as these will be replaced with electronic equivalents.

Matt Hammerstein, head of Barclays UK Corporate Bank, said:“We welcome this announcement, which will help make the trade process easier for small, medium and large-sized businesses in the UK by removing paper-based barriers to trade.”

The streamlining of the global trade process will allow for UK-based SMEs to increase their exports and improve access to important trading partners, a key objective for business leaders in the transition to the new government.

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Chris Southworth, secretary general of the International Chambers of Commerce UK, commented: “It is an opportunity to accelerate efforts to digitalise our borders and global supply chains, and help to remove unnecessary friction and costs that prevent SMEs from trading.”

Global adoption of digital customs systems, processes and documents could increase UK GDP by up to £24.2 billion in 2023 UK GDP terms. A 2023 report from LSE on the benefits of digital technology in trade found that adopting such measures could increase UK exports by between 3.0-3.9% in agriculture and 1.7-6.8% in non-agricultural goods.