It is more than 24 hours past the deadline for America to start heeding the ruling of the WTO regarding America’s anti-online gambling legislation and still the U.S. shows no signs of complying. The finance minister for the Caribbean island government of Antigua and Barbuda, Errol Cort, has spoken out against America’s non-compliance, but the U.S. trade representative has not responded.

Cort said that the pending U.S. legislation makes it more difficult for Antigua gambling companies to conduct business with U.S. citizens. Antigua took the matter to the world trade body, the WTO, which ruled that the U.S. legislation ran counter to global trade rules unless the U.S. policy on horse racing bodies was modified. The U.S. was supposed to comply with the WTO ruling earlier this week but the deadline came and went with no action on the part of the U.S.

"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 also added that 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 Finance Minister continued, adding that Antigua was "exploring all available options" to make the U.S. comply with the WTO ruling, but noted the difficulty Antigua would face in doing so, considering the fact that the tiny nation has little, if any, political and economic 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.

Posted on: April 18, 2006

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