Costa Rica has reportedly reached a compensation settlement with the United
States in a long-running dispute over legislation which has shut out foreign
internet gaming companies from operating in the US market.
According to a recent report by Costa Rican daily the Tico Times, the Central
American country has accepted a US offer of greater access to other service
markets, including research and development, storage, technical testing and
analysis, in compensation for the closure of the US online gaming market to
Costa Rican operators.
This agreement is supposedly very similar to the deal that Washington struck
with the European Union late in 2007 which, according to the European Commission,
provides EU service suppliers with new trade opportunities in the US postal
and courier, research and development, storage and warehouse sectors.
Canada and Japan have apparently also accepted similar US offers, while the
US Trade Representative's office has said that it expected India and Macau to
also fall into line.
Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Minister Marco Ruiz, was quoted in a written statement
as welcoming the agreement with the US.
“The agreement has been satisfactory for the country,” he stated.
The European Union has stressed however, that the compensation package agreed
in December is separate from its ongoing investigation over the adoption in
the US of the Unlawful internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. This
law prohibits the use of payment instruments by financial institutions to handle
the processing of any form of internet gambling that is illegal under US federal
or state law and led to the collapse of many global gaming operations. All EU
suppliers of remote gambling services have now withdrawn from the US market
further to the adoption of the UIGEA.
Earlier this month, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson announced that the
European Commission would examine whether US gambling laws are in breach of
international trade rules, and discuss the matter with the United States.
"The US has the right to address legitimate public policy concerns relating
to internet gambling, but discrimination against EU companies cannot be part
of the policy mix," Mandelson commented at the time.
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