BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Antigua and Barbuda says it has gained the full support of fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states in its ongoing Internet gambling dispute with the United States.
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| Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer (R) chatting with fellow Prime Minsters (L) Patrick Manning (Trinidad and Tobago and (C) Dr Ralph Gonsalves (St Vincent and the Grenadines) |
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, said regional leaders, who on Wednesday concluded their 28th Heads of Government conference here, have thrown their full support behind his country and were calling on the US to respect the World Trade Organization (WTO) recent ruling on the issue.
"This matter has been fully ventilated at the conference and the position of CARICOM is that Antigua and Barbuda should be fully supported by CARICOM in this matter because it should have serious implications for the region going forward as we seek to develop the financial services sector in the region," he told a news conference.
The WTO recently ruled against the US in an online gaming dispute with Antigua and agreed that actions taken by Washington to prohibit access by Antiguan companies to US markets were illegal.
The WTO ruled that the US position was contrary to its General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) commitment and instructed it to bring its laws into conformity with its trade agreement.
Following the case, the Spencer administration filed formal trade sanctions against the US, demanding US$3.4 billion in compensation for failing to open its domestic market to remote gambling services, a move it said resulted in the loss of over 4,000 jobs and a lost opportunity to earn millions of dollars in foreign exchange. | 
