How tariff-free electronic transmissions sustain niche-market businesses

Camilo Arturo González Peña never expected that his son’s dietary needs would reshape his own career path. During the COVID-19 pandemic he left his executive job to find safe food options for his autistic son.

“As Juanca doesn’t tolerate gluten or casein, he could not enjoy simple treats like bread, cookies and pancakes that most little kids love,” Camilo explains. Packages often claimed safety, yet many “labels on the back of the packaging would warn that the product was produced in a facility where allergen cross-contamination might happen. For us, that meant the products were not safe to consume as a family – and that realisation sparked the idea to fill a gap in the market.”

From this critical need Vegan Mixes was born, a food business which is fully reliant on the digital economy, from sourcing and sales to marketing and distribution. Today, that reliance places the company direction in the path of a consequential trade decision on whether the WTO’s e-commerce Moratorium – which prevents countries from imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions – should be allowed to lapse in March 2026. 

If it does, governments would have the right to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions. There is no clarity on how such duties would be designed or applied, creating significant legal and commercial uncertainty for businesses. What is certain, however, is that for every business worldwide, this would introduce a new layer of cost, complexity and uncertainty across digitally-enabled trade.

Why the WTO E-commerce Moratorium is critical for MSMEs like Vegan Mixes

Vegan Mixes began as a one-man operation. Camilo mixed, packaged and handled sales entirely alone. The business has since grown into a three-person team equipped with professional machinery, while retaining its focus on food that allergy-sensitive families can trust.

Because severe food allergies affect a relatively small share of consumers in any single market, demand is inherently fragmented. This makes the digital economy as we know it today and access to customers beyond national borders essential to achieving scale, Camilo emphasised.

The company’s growth illustrates that dependence. His first international customer, a business owner in Venezuela, opened the door to digital-driven export growth. Later, another online marketplace connected Camilo with a major distributor in the United States. “Without that platform, it would have been impossible for me to reach the category buyer for baking mixes, send samples and start discussions,” he says.

Today, Vegan Mixes sells in Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and the United States, with plans to enter Germany. Around 70% of its revenue now comes from international markets. That growth, and indeed the business itself, relies on digital transactions remaining free from additional customs charges.

If the WTO e-commerce Moratorium lapses, this success could quickly become a liability.

Even limited customs duties or new compliance requirements on electronic transmissions could disrupt both sales and sourcing, putting at risk the majority of the company’s revenue almost overnight.

Expansion plans would likely be the first casualty. For a small, niche producer with no large domestic market to fall back on, the combined uncertainty around costs, declarations and market-specific rules could make further international expansion impossible – and possibly even threaten the sustainability of the business as a whole.

For Camilo, international trade is not optional but the lifeline of his business. The WTO e-commerce Moratorium is a key enabler that allows him to use digital tools affordably and efficiently.

Camilo understands government interest in looking for new sources of revenue. But he believes that taxing digital transmissions would damage the ecosystem small businesses depend on. “Most people are employed by small companies, and if you impose tariffs and restrictions, you will punish them,” he says.

The danger, he adds, is not just financial. “It’s about the mindset of small businesses. Small companies might think, ‘OK, that will be difficult to resolve, that will be complicated.’ So maybe they won’t want to take their business abroad.”

For Camilo and thousands of MSMEs in developing economies, this issue determines whether they can access global markets or not. By keeping digital transmissions free from customs duties, the moratorium allows businesses like Vegan Mixes, a company created from a father’s commitment to his son, to continue reaching families facing the same challenges worldwide and helping them build better lives.

“My son made me realise that my purpose was to help people eat well without any problems,” Camilo says. “This powerful vision is my fuel and my path.”

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ICC is committed to securing what business needs at the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference in March 2026. Learn more about the importance of renewing the WTO e-Commerce Moratorium and our call for WTO reform.