European Union: European Union and Singapore published Digital Trade Agreement including prohibition of customs duties on electronic transmissions

On 8 April 2025, the European Union and Singapore published the Agreement on Digital Trade, which includes provisions concerning the treatment of electronic transmissions, transactions, and payments. The agreement provides that the Parties shall not impose customs duties on electronic transmissions. The agreement states that each Party shall endeavour to adopt or maintain a legal framework governing electronic transactions that is consistent with the principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996) and the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (2017). In addition, the agreement states that the Parties recognise the growth of electronic payments and shall endeavour to promote interoperability between payment systems, encourage the use of open platforms and application programming interfaces, and support the introduction of new electronic payment services in accordance with applicable legal and data protection requirements.