FIFTH DEADLINE SET FOR U.S. VS. ANTIGUA DISPUTE RESOLUTION

8 August 2008

Is hope fading for a mutually agreeable settlement?


The 1st August 2008 saw the passing of the fourth deadline for a resolution to the agonisingly long negotiations on Internet gambling between the Antigua and Barbuda government and the United States Trade Representative, but an amicable solution to the issue continued to elude the two parties, the Antiguan Finance Minister Dr. Errol Court told regional media this week.

Minister Cort revealed that a further deadline of 1st October has now been set, which he feels should give sufficient time for the parties to achieve a solution or refer the issue back to the World Trade Organisation. The Antiguans have thus far won their actions in the WTO, with the last decision achieved in December 2007, when a WTO panel of arbitrators ruled in favour of Antigua and Barbuda's bid to impose sanctions on Washington.

The two nations then agreed to attempt an amicable solution, postponing further WTO action in favour of this course. Since then four deadlines have passed.

Both countries have been locked in a dispute since the United States imposed a cross-border betting ban that made it illegal for financial institutions to process online payments to betting companies outside American borders (see previous InfoPowa reports).

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