GENEVA, CMC – Antigua and Barbuda has told the World Trade Organization(WTO) that this year marks 20 years since it requested consultations with the United States regarding measures applied by central, regional, and local authorities in the US, which affected the cross-border supply of gambling and betting services.
St. John’s said it is also 20 years since the panel circulated its report in the dispute and two years shy of two decades since the Appellate Body circulated its ruling following the US appeal against the panel report.
Antigua and Barbuda built up an Internet gambling industry to replace declining tourism revenues, only to find itself shut out of the world’s biggest gambling market.
St. John’s took its case to the WTO in 2003. Eventually, they won the right to compensation of US$21 million annually after the WTO judges upheld their complaint that US laws were discriminatory.
But Washington has yet to pay out, and Antigua and Barbuda have estimated that it has lost millions of dollars.
In its latest presentation to the WTO this week, Antigua and Barbuda argued that the lack of progress concerning compliance is disappointing and that further delay is not an option.
St. John’s said the matter between the two countries is regarded as a test case for those WTO members seeking to determine whether the dispute settlement system can deliver practical and timely benefits for small and vulnerable economies.
“It called on the US to make every effort to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion and said it remains open to engaging with the US in whatever format to settle the dispute in a mutually satisfactory manner,” according to a report posted by the WTO on its website.
The report noted that the United States said it is disappointed that Antigua and Barbuda continues to characterize the US as not making any attempt to resolve the dispute.
Washington said much to the contrary that the United States has repeatedly tried to resolve this dispute in a way that would benefit Antigua and Barbuda’s economy and citizens. The US said it remains ready and willing to work with Antigua and Barbuda to settle this dispute. However, it added that such efforts must be rooted in a genuine willingness to find a solution.
Speaking on behalf of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group, St Vincent and the Grenadines said they remain disappointed that this dispute was initiated and has yet to be fully resolved.
It said this lack of resolution, particularly the non-compliance of the world’s largest economy in a matter involving one of the smallest WTO members, undermines the rules-based adjudication system.
The report added that Bangladesh, South Africa, India, Nigeria (for the African Group), and China also took the floor on this matter to encourage a dispute settlement.
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