Casino Choice UK News Archive
US will ignore WTO ruling
In an astonishing move US trade representatives are claiming they never meant for online gaming to be part of their services agreement with the WTO, and as a consequence do not plan to honour their pledge to open the online gaming market in the US to foreign providers. According to Deputy US Trade Representative John Veroneau the US is “just clarifying (its) commitments.”
But although countries are allowed to withdraw their commitments under WTO rules, this will be the first time any country has done so in the face of a lost trade dispute, and it could have devastating consequences for the future of the WTO. If other member countries decide to follow suite whenever trade disputes don’t go their way, the WTO would become an irrelevant organisation in world trade.
The position of the United States with regards to the online gambling ruling is further compromised by the fact that it DID have the chance to exempt gambling from its commitments when it first signed up to the WTO. According to Mark Mandel, Antigua’s chief counsel in the case against the US, there were widespread debates about gambling when the WTO was being set up and over a dozen countries ensured gambling was excluded from their commitments. The US was not one of them.
But although countries are allowed to withdraw their commitments under WTO rules, this will be the first time any country has done so in the face of a lost trade dispute, and it could have devastating consequences for the future of the WTO. If other member countries decide to follow suite whenever trade disputes don’t go their way, the WTO would become an irrelevant organisation in world trade.
The position of the United States with regards to the online gambling ruling is further compromised by the fact that it DID have the chance to exempt gambling from its commitments when it first signed up to the WTO. According to Mark Mandel, Antigua’s chief counsel in the case against the US, there were widespread debates about gambling when the WTO was being set up and over a dozen countries ensured gambling was excluded from their commitments. The US was not one of them.
Submitted: 2007/05/08 at 15:26:10
