US Angered By Preliminary WTO Ruling On Internet Gambling

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

26 March 2004

The United States has reacted angrily to a preliminary report produced by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel which is dealing with its dispute with Caribbean jurisdiction, Antigua and Barbuda over online gambling.

Antigua and Barbuda brought the case to the WTO in 2003, arguing that by restricting the internet gambling activities of US citizens, the United States was unfairly damaging the jurisdiction's economy, in contravention of the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS).

Although the ruling is an interim judgement, with the final verdict not due until May, the US government has already announced its plans to appeal.

Speaking on behalf of the the US Trade Representative's department, spokesman Richard Mills revealed that:

"We intend to appeal and will argue vigorously that this deeply flawed panel report must be corrected by the appellate body."

He went on to suggest that the WTO panel had not taken into account the negotiating record in the Uruguay global trade talks which were responsible for the creation of the WTO in the mid-1990's.

"We believe that the language on US services commitments used by the Clinton administration clearly intended to exclude gambling when the United States joined the WTO in 1995," Mr Mills concluded.

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