WTO PANEL CONCLUDES FIRST HEARING OF
ANTIGUA-UNITED STATES DISPUTE

Geneva, 13th December…
A World Trade Organisation (WTO) Panel set up at the request of Antigua and Barbuda concluded its first hearing yesterday of a dispute between the small Caribbean state and the world’s only super power, the United States.

Antigua and Barbuda successfully sought the establishment of the Panel in the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO despite attempts by the United States to resist it.

The Caribbean states’ Chief Foreign Affairs Representative, Sir Ronald Sanders, said Friday, “This has been a long up hill battle but we have overcome every obstacle so far. These included, the US attempt to stop the establishment of the Panel, then its failure to agree with us on the composition of the Panel, and finally its filing of a ‘no-case’ submission which was overturned by the Panel”.

Antigua and Barbuda claims that the US is violating commitments it made in its schedule of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) by prohibiting the cross-border supply of gaming and betting services.

The US retorts that it made no such commitment and rejects the Vienna Convention as an instrument for interpreting its international commitments under the GATS. This has encouraged the participation of Canada, the European Communities and Mexico in the dispute as third parties. They argue that the US has clearly made the commitment and is subject to the Vienna Convention for the interpretation of its commitments.

In the Panel Hearing, Sir Ronald argued that the United States is a huge market with a well established culture for gambling in several States and territories as well as mega-casinos and betting operations some of which use the Internet. He said, the denial by the US of entry to its market from suppliers in Antigua “is simply protectionism, nothing more, nothing less”.

The Antigua Senior diplomat also declared, “The United States has undertaken considerable law enforcement efforts against Antiguan operators (including jailing one of them), yet no enforcement action whatsoever has been taken against its domestic operators, who must present a much easier law enforcement target, given their presence within the territory”.

At he conclusion of the Hearing, the Chairman of the three-person Panel, Mr B K Zutshi of India, indicated that the written answers to certain questions from the Panel would be required by 9th January and that the Panel would have a further Hearing with all the parties to the dispute on 26th and 27th January 2004. Other members of the Panel are Mr Richard Plender QC of the United Kingdom, and Mr Virachai Plasai of Thailand.

Since the US began passing laws prohibiting the supply of Internet Gaming, the number of suppliers in Antigua has dropped from over 100 to less than 30 with a loss of revenue estimated at US$30 million and a further loss of hundreds of jobs.