WTO Turned Down Timeframe Proposed By USA
Published: Friday, August 26, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
WTO TURNED DOWN TIMEFRAME PROPOSED BY USA TO MAKE CHANGES
WTO arbitrator says time given is sufficient
The World Trade Organisation's recent action (see Online-Casinos.com & InfoPowa news report last week) in giving the United States just under a year to get its house in order regarding Internet gambling came after attempts by the federal authorities to gain more time.
Washington has until next April to comply with a ruling about US restrictions on cross border gaming on the Internet, a WTO arbitrator ruled last week.
The arbitrator, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, set the “reasonable period of time” for the US to adapt its legislation in line with the WTO ruling, which was issued in April this year after the Antiguan government brought the USA before the global trade referee to argue interference in Internet gaming by the federal government.
The US had argued that it would need a minimum of 15 months to implement the recommendations, citing a lengthy and complicated legislative process.
Ehlermann said the reasons given did not “suffice to discharge the United States’ burden of persuading me that 15 months would be a reasonable period of time for implementation in this dispute, particularly given the acknowledged flexibility in the United States legislative process.”
Had Washington’s request been granted, the US would have had until the end of July 2006, instead of 3 April 2006, to implement the recommendations.
“I am pleased to see that the arbitrator has decided in favour of our cogent arguments that the shortest possible time period be given to the US to implement the recommendations,” Dr Errol Cort, the finance and economy minister for Antugua and Barbuda who also has overall responsibility for this issue, said.
“We believe that in his decision to grant the US a time period of eleven months and two weeks from the date of the adoption of the WTO’s Appellate Body Report, or approximately eight months from today’s date, the arbitrator has sent a clear message to the US that it is expected to comply fully with the recommendations and rulings of the DSB (Dispute Settlement Body,) and to do so within a clearly defined timeframe” he added.
“Ideally, we would have preferred even a shorter timeframe,” Mark Mendel, Antigua & Barbuda’s legal adviser said.
“At the end of day, in this case, April 3, 2006, we hope that the US will present to the Appellate Body, a comprehensive plan on how it intends to grant full market access to our gaming operators,” Ms. Kaye MacDonald, Antigua's director of gaming said.
“Before anyone forgets, this after all, is the primary reason we brought the case to the WTO in the first place,” she added.
US officials contended Internet gambling is illegal if it involves activity on US soil, and have vowed to prosecute those involved in the practice.
Antigua and Barbuda’s delegation to the WTO will now have to ensure that the US regularly informs the meetings of the DSB on steps it is taking, to implement the recommendations and rulings of the Appellate Body, the Antigua government said in a statement this week.
