Friday, May 26, 2006

ST JOHN'S, Antigua: Minister of Finance and the Economy, Dr Errol Cort, on Thursday reassured the nation that his government remains seized with the matter of the WTO dispute on Internet gaming between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States.

“The United States and us have just agreed on and jointly submitted to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), a set of procedures known as a “Sequencing Agreement,” with the US regarding the timeframe for the establishment of a compliance panel by the DSB to determine if the United States has implemented the recommendations and rulings of the DSB and if it remains out of compliance with its WTO obligations,” said the Minister.

The Minister went on to add that if the DSB finds that the United States failed to comply with that body’s recommendations and rulings, or that a measure taken by the United States to comply with the recommendations and rulings is inconsistent with a covered agreement, his government reserved the right to request authorization to suspend concessions or other obligations under the relevant WTO provisions.

The Minister also expressed his government’s concern with pending legislation before the House Judiciary Committee of the US Congress.

“I have requested our Ambassador to the WTO, Ambassador John Ashe, to write to Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Mr James Sensenbrenner, and inform him of my government’s concern with legislation introduced into the United States Congress on 16 February 2006 entitled the “Internet Gambling Prohibition Act” (the “Goodlatte Bill”), and similar legislation, introduced on 18 November 2005 as H.R. 4411, cited as the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005” (the “Leach Bill”),” he said. “We are concerned that these Bills may be expressly contrary to the rulings and recommendations of the DSB,” he added.

Ms Kaye McDonald, Director of Gaming, Financial Services Regulatory Commission also expressed concern with the Bills. “We note, on the one hand, that the Goodlatte Bill, which is cast as an amendment to the US federal criminal statute known as the “Wire Act,” is designed to expand the coverage of the Wire Act to most types of gambling services offered over the Internet, and on the other hand, the Leach Bill seeks to criminalise facilitation of or participation in certain financial transactions associated with what the legislation defines as “unlawful Internet gambling,” she said.

Mark Mendel, the legal adviser to the Antigua and Barbuda government on this matter added that a settlement was proposed to then United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert Zoellick, almost two years ago now, after the WTO panel report was first released to both parties.

“An approach was made to Ambassador Zoellick with a view towards reaching an accommodation between both parties prior to the release of the panel report, that would in essence, use the Antigua-based industry as a “test case” of sorts, since we believed that a thoughtful study of the gaming industry in cooperation with US would demonstrate the efficacy of Antigua and Barbuda’s regulatory scheme and the ability of the government to adequately supervise this kind of activity,” he said.

“In my communication to Chairman Sensenbrenner, I informed him that Minister Cort remains available to meet with the members of the Judiciary Committee to discuss the pending legislation and their impact on the WTO dispute,” said Ambassador Ashe.

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