More calls for U.S. to settle dispute with Antigua

Two important Caribbean interest groups have aligned themselves with Antigua and Barbuda in its decade-long World Trade Organisation row with the United States, calling on the USA to respect the decisions of WTO dispute panels and settle with the Antiguans over its discriminatory approach to online gambling bans (see previous reports).

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) have again called on the United States to honour a World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute with Antigua and Barbuda which the islanders have won in repeated arguments before WTO dispute panels.

Caricom and Coted note that the US has so far failed to comply with the WTO decisions and has not reached a settlement with Antigua and Barbuda. The bodies urged the United States to make additional and effective efforts to reach a fair and reasonable settlement in the long-outstanding issue with the islanders.

The USA failure to finalise the matter has the potential to undermine the credibility of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, the statement said.

In a landmark decision in 2004, subsequently confirmed repeatedly, the WTO found that the introduction of a number of laws criminalising remote gambling services offered to American consumers by Antiguan operators were in violation of the US’s international treaty obligations.

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