Chapman Tripp – New Zealand on Ground Floor of Digital Economy Agreement

Chapman Tripp – The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) concluded last week between New Zealand, Chile and Singapore will establish new international rules and best practice to support and promote digital commerce.

Digital trade is New Zealand’s third biggest revenue earner, having experienced faster growth here over the last ten years as a proportion of GDP than in any other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country.

[adrotate banner=”90″

DEPA is a living document, meaning that other countries may join.

DEPA in detail

As well as building on existing rules on e-commerce, the DEPA negotiations considered a range of emerging digital economy issues, including cross-border data flows, digital identification, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and open data.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules were predicated on identifying whether products are goods or services and the borders they cross but digital trade blurs these distinctions. The need for reform is recognised by the WTO, as evidenced in the WTO E-commerce Initiative whereby 76 WTO member states (including New Zealand) agreed earlier this year to work toward a new WTO e-commerce agreement.

DEPA complements and supports this process.

Before being ratified by the Government, DEPA will be subject to a National Interest Analysis, Cabinet review, and Select Committee examination.

For more information, check out the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade modules here.

What is digital trade?

The term ‘digital trade’ is an evolving concept, capturing not just internet shopping and the supply of online services (e-commerce), but also data flows that enable global value chains, services that enable smart manufacturing, and a myriad of other platforms and applications.

Why DEPA matters to New Zealand

New Zealand now has 29,000 tech firms with nearly 100,000 employees contributing $16.2b to GDP and producing $6.3b in exports.

This gives us a strong interest in ensuring that international trade rules dealing with the challenges created by digitalisation have a strong commercial basis, deal effectively with the social implications of increased data flows, and protect the Treaty of Waitangi, personal privacy and cybersecurity.

More on LawFuel

• From Courtroom to Coastlines: The Rich List Journey of Peter Cooper
  Who Is The Gold-Plated Lawyer Peter Cooper? John Bowie, LawFuel publisher In the 1980s when I started the first ‘Rich… Read more: From Courtroom to Coastlines: The Rich List Journey of Peter Cooper
• How Piers Morgan’s Badly Behaved Barrister Interview Shows He Has Become The Jerry Springer of News
  Attacking A Barrister Guest Was A New Low Point In Screaming-Match TV ‘News’ When leading public law barrister and international… Read more: How Piers Morgan’s Badly Behaved Barrister Interview Shows He Has Become The Jerry Springer of News
• L.A. Law: Real Housewives, Real Crime, Real Contempt
  Move over, “Suits”—the real legal drama is in L.A., where David Lira, son-in-law to disgraced legal legend Tom Girardi (yes,… Read more: L.A. Law: Real Housewives, Real Crime, Real Contempt
• Davis Polk Partner discusses Section 899 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with Bloomberg
  Davis Polk partner Michael Mollerus discussed the Section 899 provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and its potential… Read more: Davis Polk Partner discusses Section 899 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with Bloomberg
• London Law News – Cross-Border Disputes Lawyer Joins Johnson Law Group
  Johnson Law Group Welcomes New Associate Solicitor Leonie AmarasekaraJohnson Law Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Leonie Amarasekaraas… Read more: London Law News – Cross-Border Disputes Lawyer Joins Johnson Law Group
• How Power Lawyer Philip Crump Is Remixing NZME’s Tune
  Philip Crump has combined his legal and media knowledge, comboined with a fair dose of business and political savvy, to become one of the most powerful voices in New Zealand’s increasingly fractured media scene. Sitting as a powerful voice on the NZME editorial board, Crump can quote both the Companies Act and the latest newsroom meme, and still have time to pen a sharp Substack column, Cranmer’s Substack, but will increasingly help shape news delivery in the newish-look NZME board.
• Former Law Star Tom Girardi’s Stunning Fall From Grace
  From “Erin Brockovich” to Inmate – Tom Girardi’s Stunning Legal Collapse Ben Thomson, Lawfuel contributing editor Tom Girardi’s name once… Read more: Former Law Star Tom Girardi’s Stunning Fall From Grace
• How the NZ Government is Protecting Australia’s Biggest Banks – But Not Kiwi Consumers
  The class action layer leading the action against the ASB and ANZ banks has slammed proposed legislation he says will… Read more: How the NZ Government is Protecting Australia’s Biggest Banks – But Not Kiwi Consumers
• Big Name M&A Lawyer Returns To A&O Shearman Fold
  Skadden Lawyer’s Career Turn A&O Shearman just pulled off a big move bringing a lawyer who has handled some of… Read more: Big Name M&A Lawyer Returns To A&O Shearman Fold