Caricom Heads Of State Show Support For Antigua & Barbuda In Internet Gaming Case

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

23 February 2005

The heads of government of Caricom nations last week issued a resolution supporting Antigua and Barbuda in its dispute with the United States at the World Trade Organisation on the matter of internet gaming.

According to Caricom, the government heads have decided to support the case due to its implications for the provision of cross border trade in services between member states of both Caricom and the WTO.

According to Antigua's Prime Minister, Baldwin Spencer, the laws passed by the United States Congress prohibiting the delivery of cross border internet betting services between the Caribbean jurisdiction and the US are in violation of America’s commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

Spencer has also argued that the US action has caused several betting companies in Antigua and Barbuda to close, creating unemployment and losing the economy tens of millions of dollars per annum.

The Heads of Government observed in the resolution that Antigua and Barbuda’s case was both “pioneering” and “instructive in many ways on how small states could defend their rights in the WTO”.

The Appellate body of the WTO is due next week to hear the US government’s appeal over last year’s ruling, which found in favour of Antigua and Barbuda.

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