Antigua-Barbuda reacts to WTO arbitration ruling
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| Published on Monday, December 24, 2007 |
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ST JOHN'S, Antigua: The government of Antigua and Barbuda has reacted to report of the arbitrators of the WTO Panel in its dispute over Internet gambling services with the United States.
In an unusual and lengthy opinion, the panel of arbitrators ruled that Antigua could apply trade sanctions through the suspension of US intellectual property rights, but limited Antigua and Barbuda's annual damages to US $21 million (EC$56.7 million).
This amount will remain in place until the US comes in compliance with the rulings and recommendations of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, or until it reaches a mutually agreed settlement with Antigua and Barbuda under the Article 21 of GATS agreement.
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| Minister of Finance and Economy Dr Errol Cort |
Nevertheless, the country's Minister of Finance and the Economy, Dr Errol Cort, expressed his government's mixed emotions over the highly-anticipated ruling.
"Although we are pleased that the extraordinary sanction of the suspension of intellectual property right protection for US interests has been given to us-only the second such authorisation in WTO history-we are disappointed by the portion of the decision limiting our annual compensation to such a mere fraction of our industry's lost revenues," said Cort.
"We believe that this portion of the ruling is flawed and may have far reaching implications for the future of dispute resolution at the WTO, particularly for its small developing country members. That being said, we can and do intend to make the most of what we can from this ruling," he said.
The Minister further observed that the objective of this process is not to actually apply sanctions, but to encourage the United States government to negotiate with his government towards a fair and mutually satisfactory resolution of the dispute.
"Despite the size of the award, the value of WTO-sanctioned suspension of intellectual property rights should not be underestimated. We think that this decision, as terribly flawed as it may be, should still have the desired result of getting the US to sit down with us and seek a amicable resolution to our disagreement. In this regard, we look forward to meeting with the US delegation in the very near future in an effort to have this matter fully resolved," said the Minister |
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