U.S. Settles WTO Case With European UnionAntigua and Barbuda Still Wait |
|
The office of the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) and the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States today announced that the U.S. has come to a compensation agreement with the European Union and other members of the World Trade Organization who sought recompense because of the United State's stance on online gambling.
Online gambling companies located in the EU estimate that upwards of $100 billion would be lost annually if the U.S. continued to work to prohibit its citizens from gambling online.
The amount the U.S. will have to compensate WTO member Antigua and Barbuda (who act as one member), the Caribbean nations who sued the U.S. via the WTO, is still up in the air. The two countries are seeking around $3.4 billion annually, and so far the U.S. has offered it $500,000. If the two parties cannot agree on a figure, a WTO panel will decide how much the sanctions will be.
Antigua and Barbuda started this whole process when it claimed that the U.S.'s stance violated certain portions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) that was signed in the 1990s.
WTO panels repeatedly agreed with Antigua and Barbuda, and in May, after the U.S. ran out of appeals, the U.S. decided to do something that could potentially unravel the entire fabric of the WTO. Instead of complying with the WTO's ruling and opening its shores to online gambling, the U.S. revised part of the GATS that covered the recreational activity of gambling.
The USTR also said it came to a compensatory agreement with Canada and Japan, although no details about those cases were released.
Click here to read more about this case.
The following is an announcement from the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States:
The European Union and United States agreed on a compensation package to be offered by the U.S. in response to its withdrawal in WTO of GATS commitments on gambling and betting services, including on-line gambling. A bilateral agreement was signed in Geneva, which provides EU service suppliers with new trade opportunities in the U.S. postal and courier, research and development, storage and warehouse sectors. The U.S. also made concessions in the testing and analysis services sector. The European Union will continue to press for non discriminatory treatment in U.S. internet gambling legislation.
The bilateral agreement follows negotiations initiated by the U.S. on May 8, 2007, when the U.S. announced its intention to withdraw its WTO commitments on gambling and betting services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The GATS allows members to modify or withdraw commitments, provided that they negotiate offsetting compensation so that the overall level of its market access remains the same. The EU sought compensation to make up for the loss of trading opportunities in the U.S. gambling sector, including the U.S. internet gambling market.
Upon certification of the agreement by the WTO, gambling services will no longer be covered by the U.S.' WTO commitments. The European Commission however will seek a non-discriminatory policy towards internet gambling in the U.S."While the U.S. is free to decide how to best respond to legitimate public policy concerns relating to internet gambling, discrimination against EU or other foreign companies should be avoided," said Peter Power, EU Spokesman for Trade.
EU Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson pressed the European Commission's concerns recently in a meeting with Congressman Barney Frank, and subsequently in a letter to him.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
