Antigua and Barbuda's Finance Minister, Errol Cort is hopeful that last week's
talks with the US government will lead to a resolution of a long-standing dispute
that has blocked the jurisdiction's e-gaming operators from operating in the
United States.
Speaking after his meeting with US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Cort
acknowledged that a final agreement is still probably a long way off, and that
last Thursday's discussions were "first and foremost about establishing
lines of communication".
"This initial round of discussions, while comprehensive, was intended
to examine the universe of possible solutions to our mutual WTO dispute,"
he was quoted as observing by Caribbean Net News.
Cort reiterated that Antigua and Barbuda was determined to reach "an amicable
settlement to this dispute", despite gaining approval from the World Trade
Organisation last month to impose sanctions on the US by, for instance,
disregarding intellectual property rules under TRIPS in order to sell US-generated
content such as films and music on the open market.
However, the WTO ruled that Antigua and Barbuda could impose only USD21 million
in annual trade sanctions - a far less potent weapon than the USD3.4 billion
originally called for by the Caribbean government - and Cort is seemingly aware
that the only way to settle the crippling dispute is through direct appeals
to Washington, which has casually disregarded and sidestepped previous WTO rulings
on the issue.
It is said that America accounts for some 80% of the global e-gaming market,
and according to the Antiguan government, income has fallen to USD130 million
a year, from USD1 billion among the jurisdiction's online casinos in 2000. With
an estimated 537 gambling websites based in Antigua last year, the Caribbean
jurisdiction is considered to be one of the largest offshore gaming domiciles.
Meanwhile, the ruling by the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body remains in place
until the US comes into conformity with the WTO's previous ruling, or until
there is a mutually agreed settlement.
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