The ongoing battle between the U.S. and Antigua over U.S. anti online gambling policies continues as the U.S., according to Antigua, has done very little to comply with the WTO rulings regarding the dispute.

Not only has the U.S. not complied with the WTO rulings, it has also introduced additional legislation designed to ban online casino gambling in the U.S. Consequently, Antigua’s WTO representative has registered a formal protest against U.S. policy and has complained that the U.S. has done nothing to implement last year’s World Trade Organization ruling against current U.S. online gambling restrictions.

In an effort to counter declining tourism revenues, Antigua has launched an intensive campaign to promote its Internet gambling industry, which is a significant source of income for the islanders living their.

The dispute is over U.S. federal law, which prohibits the placing of bets across state lines by electronic means. Antigua has argued that such a law violates fair trade policies and complained at the WTO saying that the U.S. ban on online gambling is in violation of service sector commitments the United States made when the WTO was formed in 1995.

Antigua’s ambassador to the WTO, John Ashe, wrote a letter to US Trade Representative Rob Portman, expressing concern that two new U.S. legislative proposals to outlaw the twelve billion dollar Internet gambling industry are in direct contradiction with the WTO rulings:
"Each of the bills is in key respects expressly contrary to the rulings and the recommendations of the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization”.
Ashe also pointed out that the U.S. has not yet complied with the WTO rulings from April of last year:
"As of today, with less than two months remaining on an 11-month and two week compliance period, to our knowledge no legislation has been introduced into the Congress that would seek to bring the United States into compliance".

In response to Antigua’s complaint, Neena Moorjani, a spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative's office, said, "The US is exploring a number of different avenues to clarify there is no discrimination – even outside of legislation”.
"The issue is a very narrow one. ... The time period for compliance has not yet expired," she added.

The United States, on the other hand, is arguing that the WTO services liberalization case did not extend to gambling, and that the WTO ruling allowed states to restrict trade on moral grounds.

Posted on: February 21, 2006

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