U.S. 'Flauntion' WTO Ruling Says Antigua

Published: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

U.S. 'FLAUNTING' WTO RULING SAYS ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

24 hours past the dealine, and no comment from American trade representative

The finance minister for the Caribbean island government of Antigua and Barbuda has spoken out on the continued silence of U.S. trade representatives at the World Trade Organisation fully 24 hours after the deadline for compliance with a WTO disputes panel ruling expired yesterday.

Finance Minister Errol Cort said pending U.S. legislation on online betting would make it harder for Antigua gambling companies to do business with U.S. citizens.

Antigua took the dispute to a WTO panel, which ruled that the U.S. prohibition legislation would violate global trade rules unless it took action to amend its policy on Internet gambling through horse-racing bodies. The deadline for the U.S. government's compliance passed earlier this week.

"The deadline has come and passed and the United States has made no effort toward compliance," Cort said, adding that the U.S. legislation would "further entrench the discriminatory nature of the United States' approach to cross-border gambling."

Cort said U.S. trade officials have "rebuffed every offer Antigua and Barbuda has made to engage the United States in an attempt to work out a reasonable resolution of this dispute." The minister said Antigua was "exploring all available options" to make the U.S. comply with the WTO ruling but conceded that settling the dispute would be "extremely challenging" given Antigua's lack of economic and political clout.

"While the United States flaunts the decision of the WTO in our case and attempts to shore up its own domestic monopoly on gambling and betting services, Antigua and Barbuda wants to point out that we have a highly regulated gaming industry in our country," Cort said.