The U.S Government Needs To Do More
Published: Friday, May 27, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO DO MORE THAN JUST "TWEAK"
Antiguan minister insists on full compliance with WTO ruling
The Antigua - U.S.A. World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute was back in the headlines this week when an Antiguan government minister insisted on full compliance with the world body's earlier ruling.
Antiguan Finance Minister Errol Cort said that the United States must lift a ban on the cross-border provision of Internet gambling services in order to bring its practices in line with its World Trade Organisation commitments, when he addressed the trade body on May 19.
Cort told a meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body that a mere "tweaking" of U.S. legislation would not be enough to bring the United States in compliance with a WTO ruling partially condemning the ban on remote gambling, as U.S. officials contend.
"To comply with the ruling, the United States must give Antigua market access for the provision of gambling and betting services," Cort asserted. "This should not be a difficult or time-consuming task."
The Antiguan minister added that his country accepts that online gambling should be subject to regulation and was prepared to cooperate with the United States on rules that would give Antiguan operators "...fair, reasonable and responsible access to the gambling market in the United States."
Recapping on the recent developments, on April 7 the WTO's Appellate Body upheld an earlier panel ruling backing Antigua's claim that the United States had, contrary to its assertions to the contrary, included specific commitments on market access for cross-border gambling and betting services in its WTO services schedule (67 WTO, 04/8/05 ).
The Appellate Body also maintained--but only in part--the panel's rejection of U.S. claims that restrictions on cross-border gambling services were justified under Article XIV of the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which allows an exception from WTO services commitments for trade-restrictive measures deemed "....necessary to protect public morals."
The Appellate Body agreed with the United States that three U.S. federal statutes in question--Section 1084 of Title 18 of the United States Code (the Wire Act), Section 1952 (the Travel Act) and Section 1955 (the Illegal Gambling Business Act)--were all measures necessary to protect public morals.
Nevertheless, the Appellate Body concluded, on narrow grounds, that the U.S. ban was applied in a discriminatory manner in violation of WTO rules.
The United States informed the DSB meeting that it intends to comply with the WTO ruling but did not spell out when or how it would do so.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier insisted after the Appellate Body verdict was issued that the ruling allows U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling to remain in place. "This report essentially says that if we clarify U.S. Internet gambling restrictions in certain ways, we'll be fine," Allgeier argued.
The Appellate Body found that the United States failed to disprove that an additional federal statute--the Interstate Horseracing Act--permits interstate wagers to be accepted by an off-track betting system via telephone or other modes of electronic communication (including the Internet), as Antigua had claimed, thus discriminating between foreign and domestic service suppliers in violation of the Article XIV provisions.
Referring to this finding, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said April 7 the United States "...needs to clarify one narrow issue concerning Internet gambling on horse racing" in order to comply with the ruling.
Cort pointed out that the ruling addresses all forms of "remote" gambling, not just Internet gambling, and that the United States would have to ban all types of the former (including services such as off-track betting) in order to justify its "public morals" exception.
"If our fellow members were not aware of it, the United States has sanctioned domestic Internet and telephone account wagering services that accept hundreds of millions of dollars in wagers each year," the Antiguan minister declared. "There is extensive remote gambling on horse races and other events and contests in the United States."
Cort said a May 16 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on interstate sales of wine bolstered his country's claims in the gambling dispute. The Court struck down state laws in Michigan and New York barring out-of-state wineries from selling directly to consumers but allowing such sales by in-state wineries.
"This case is remarkably analogous to our dispute and, we suspect, may very well soon have an impact on the resolution of this dispute," Cort declared.
