The international dispute over online gambling, that officials have valued at billions of dollars, writes another chapter, with Costa Rica and Antigua both filing for new arbitration with the WTO. These new arbitration requests have the potential to upset the settlement between the U.S. and the E.U. agreed upon late last year.
The new arbitration filings allows that E.U. to take another look at the settlement with the U.S. and join these arbitration proceedings. Now it seems another chapter in the Internet gambling trade dispute is being opened.
According to Nao Matsukata, Senior Advisor for Alston and Bird LLP,
“The decision by Antigua and Costa Rica to take the United States to arbitration will test the limits of the WTO process and squarely challenge the U.S. resolve to withdraw its GATS commitments. If the U.S. finds the decision of the WTO arbitrator unacceptable, under procedures outlined in the GATS, it could unilaterally withdraw, creating an unprecedented crisis of confidence in the global trading system. The best solution remains for Congress to pass legislation that would create a legal and regulated framework for online gaming in the United States and for the United States to remain in the GATs schedule to provide all providers legal protection under the WTO.”
The US offered market access to domestic postal services, warehousing, R&D and technical testing to the E.U., Japan, Canada and Australia with these four nations settling their negotiations with the U.S. regarding online gambling.
These market compensations had no interest to Costa Rica, Macao, India and Antigua and those countries are still working out the details through the WTO about trade compensation. The recent actions of Costa Rica now raises questions about what Macao and other nations yet to settle this dispute might do.
Antigua has already won a $21 million arbitration dispute through the WTO, and it is possible that these new arbitration requests will have an impact on the way Antigua decides to implement that compensation. One of the options is for the small Caribbean nation to take the compensation in the form of intellectual property waivers.
Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesperson, Jeffrey Sandman, said in a press release,
“It is time for the U.S. to end its hypocritical practices that discriminate against foreign online gambling operators, while allowing U.S. gambling operators to accept bets for certain forms of gambling. Regulation of Internet gambling should be supported as a means to resolve this trade dispute.”
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.