Geneva, 15 November 2010 - As part of its work to help establish legislative frameworks that are conducive to the growth of e-commerce in developing countries, UNCTAD has published a new study on prospects for harmonizing cyberlegislation in Central America and the Caribbean: "Estudio sobre las perspectivas de la armonización de la ciberlegislación en Centroamérica y el Caribe". The publication will be translated into English shortly.
The study looks at seven countries in Central America and the Caribbean: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. It describes the current state of cyberlegislation, focusing on online transactions and electronic signatures, consumer protection, protection of privacy and personal data, cybercrime, intellectual property and domain names.
With the aim of promoting harmonization of cyberlegislation and fostering regional integration, which requires knowledge of the current state of regulatory frameworks, UNCTAD´s new publication provides government experts and the general public with a comprehensive report on the situation in each of the countries concerned. In that way, readers not only learn about each national regulatory framework, but can also see how regulations differ from country to country.
Legislative strategies vary considerably, and the laws on which they are based are not always the same. For example, Panama and the Dominican Republic have adopted specific laws to regulate e-commerce, while other countries apply provisions taken from different laws.
The study ends with a series of conclusions aimed at drawing up harmonization strategies that are in line with regional agreements, such as the eLAC 2007 and eLAC 2010 action plans, and with international instruments such as the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, drawn up by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
The study was prepared by UNCTAD´s Division on Technology and Logistics, with input from experts from the relevant countries. Support was provided by the Spanish Government.
The study follows on from a similar study for Latin America published by UNCTAD in 2009, which was translated into English this year.(1)
