WTO AGREEMENTS LATEST (Update)

21 December 2007

Deal includes Canada and Japan, claims US Trade Representative; Costa Rica, India and Macau hang in


Judging by conflicting statements from the EU and the US Trade Representative, there appears to be some doubt as to whether the concessions given by the United States are "new" or merely "maintain" it's "liberalised" position.

And further news reports from Associated Press on the EU compensation deal with the United States on Internet gambling indicate that Canada and Japan have also folded their cards, although Costa Rica, Macau and India are holding on for a better deal.

There is still no news on the seperate Antigua issue.

The United States Trade Representative spokesperson said Monday it has agreed to maintain concessions for companies from the European Union, Canada and Japan who want to do business in the U.S. so it can preserve its Internet gambling ban that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organisation.

The 27-nation EU said earlier in the day it had received trade concessions in mail services and warehousing as well as U.S. market opportunities for European companies offering testing and analysis services.

But the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the agreement did not open any new services to foreign competition.

"The agreement involves commitments to maintain our liberalized markets," spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel said, confirming the business sectors cited by Brussels.

EU officials had said the deal would affect how Germany's DHL, the express and logistics division of Deutsche Post World Net AG, competes with U.S.-based companies FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc.

They said Washington also agreed to ease access to European providers of research and development in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and companies offering technical testing and analysis services.

A FedEx spokeswoman said it was unclear what the deal would mean to the Memphis-based courier. "We're looking into this now," said spokeswoman Sandra Munos.

In any case, the overall trade valuation of the package will fall far short of the $100 billion that European online gaming sites had claimed the United States owed. EU officials could not immediately say how much the deal was worth.

"This compensation cannot be quantified up to the euro," the EU mission to the WTO said in an e-mailed statement. "Nonetheless, it is clear that new trade opportunities are created for EU service suppliers in important sectors in the U.S."

Costa Rica, India and Macau are believed to be still holding out.

"We now enter a 45-day period in which the remaining claimants have a right to request arbitration," Hamel said in an e-mailed statement. "We will continue to discuss this matter with the other claimants to explain how our proposal is consistent with our WTO obligations."

The deal will now have to be approved by the US Congress, The Public Citizen opined in an article Monday, which claims that under the U.S. Constitution, no administration can unilaterally change U.S. commitments under a trade agreement.

"Hopefully the Europeans know that the Bush administration’s offer to bind more sensitive service sectors to WTO jurisdiction is meaningless unless Congress approves such a proposal. Whatever the Bush administration is considering trading away to get out of its current WTO gambling mess would have to be approved by Congress," the article warns.

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