Digital standardization, cybersecurity issues and international trade law

National and international digital standards are having a growing impact on international trade law. The traditionally most evident di-mension of the extensive activity of standard-setting bodies in rela-tion to the functioning of the Internet is related to openness and in-teroperability, which are to be considered as core values in the de-velopment of the Internet and the Digital Trade Agenda. Against this background, the need for cybersecurity prompts State control over the Internet and affects trade liberalization, trig-gering the exception of national security. National standards there-fore become an instrument of protection of the national interest, whose broad interpretation provides a powerful protectionist tool. If new trade agreements are to consider these issues more di-rectly, it is necessary to deal with cybersecurity in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO), finding viable solutions through an evolutionary interpretation, in particular, of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). For a smooth functioning of TBT, a shared development of in-ternational standards is needed, based on a public-private partner-ship that should aim at overcoming competition of standards and fragmentation, which could negatively impact the very structure of the Internet. Following this line, cybersecurity could become a foundational element of trust for digital trade. Rather than serving as a means to advocate for national interests, it could become not opposite but complimentary to openness. International standards could therefore provide a viable solution to foster the development of international digital trade in the existing framework of the WTO, serving cybersecurity issues without disre-garding the principle of technological neutrality and the logic of openness and interoperability.