The meeting in Geneva, hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), is being attended by regulators from 60 countries and representatives from bodies such as the World Trade Organization.
The solution put forward by the ITU is to tackle the lack of anti-spam laws in most countries, which currently means that spammers are fearless of prosecution in their home country, let alone in the foreign state where their e-mail is being received.
The ITU proposes to make examples of such laws available for use by states in which there is no anti-spam framework. It also recognises the need for technical solutions and education of consumers.
"If we achieve full international co-operation among governments and software companies, this plague which affects so many of us in our everyday life will be defeated in short order," said Robert Horton, chair of the meeting and acting head of the Australian regulator.
The proposal follows an announcement that the US Federal Trade Commission will be joining forces and sharing resources with the UK's Information Commissioner and other agencies in the UK and Australia in the battle against illegal spam.