Pakistan lacks a comprehensive regime for the protection of trade secrets.

It is reported that there is no obligation for passive infrastructure sharing in Pakistan to deliver telecom services to end users. However, it is practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors based on commercial agreements.

Pakistan is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

In June 2021, the Pakistani National Tariff Commission imposed a definitive anti-dumping duty for a period of five years on imports of phthalic anhydride (HS code: 291735) from China, Chinese Taipei, the Republic of Korea and Russia. This product is used in the production of flexible PVC products such as cables. The duty imposed on imports originating from China is 11.12%, from the Republic of Korea ranges from 9.57% to 14.82%, from Chinese Taipei ranges from 14.94% to 24.61%, and from Russia is 16.31%.

According to Art. 24 of the Public Procurement Rules, procuring agencies are required to prioritise domestic suppliers or contractors when evaluating and comparing bids against international competitors. It is reported that a price preference of up to 25% is applied in all public procurement processes, depending on the level of domestic value-added content. The maximum preference is granted when at least 35% of the value added originates domestically

Pakistan is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2015.

There are no ownership restrictions on sectors relevant for digital trade. However, it is reported that Pakistan prohibits foreign ownership in all sectors for citizens/companies from India and Israel.

It is reported that Pakistan implements investment screening mechanisms for inbound foreign investments, blocking those deemed to pose a risk to national security based on the screening process. While the Board of Investment serves as the official lead agency for investment screening, it lacks the internal capacity to conduct such screenings and relies heavily on intelligence agencies to carry out the necessary due diligence.

Pakistan is not a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The Copyright Ordinance of 1962 establishes a clear framework of copyright exceptions based on the fair dealing model, allowing the lawful use of copyrighted works by others without prior permission. Section 57, introduced through the 2000 amendment, outlines these exceptions, which include uses such as research or private study, criticism or review, and the public reading or recitation of reasonable excerpts from published literary or dramatic works, among others.

It is reported that the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is NOK 350 (approx. USD 32), below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). However, there is an exception to this rule, which comes from the VAT on E-Commerce (VOEC) scheme. Under this scheme, online retailers who export more than 50,000 NOK (approx. 4591 USD) worth of low-value goods (less than 3000 NOK, approx. 275 USD) into Norway annually are exempt from paying customs duty and instead must charge VAT at point-of-sale and register with the Norwegian Tax Administration, as if they were a Norwegian retailer. In effect, this creates a de minimis threshold of 3000 NOK for which customs duties are no longer imposed.

Only Norwegian organisations and private individuals over the age of 18 can subscribe to a Norwegian domain name. Organisations must be registered with the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (Enhetsregisteret), and individuals must be registered in the National Population Register with a national identity number. Further, all subscribers must have a Norwegian postal address.

The Act on the Processing of Personal Data (Personal Data Act) implements the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union in Norway. Art. 27 of the GDPR requires a local representative for data controllers or processors not established in the EU.

Act No. 35 establishes a comprehensive framework for consumer protection, which is applicable to online transactions. Moreover, consumer purchases made via the Internet are regulated by the Act Relating to Consumer Purchases, which implemented Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees (this directive was subsequently repealed and replaced by Directive (EU) 2019/771 of the European Parliament and the Council of 20 May 2019 on certain aspects relating to contracts for the sale of goods). Chapters 5 and 6 of the Act Relating to Consumer Purchases, for instance, delineate consumer rights in cases of late delivery and with respect to defective goods. Furthermore, Regulation No. 910/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS) has been fully incorporated into Norwegian law through the Act on Electronic Trust Services (LOV-2018-06-15-44).