Washington: Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Finance and the Economy Dr Errol Cort held wide ranging discussions on the internet gaming dispute in Washington on Thursday with his ministerial counterpart from the Office of the US Trade Representative, Ambassador Susan Schwab. "Clearly this is first and foremost about establishing lines of communication at the government-to-government level.

The Financial Times has reported a deal signed late last month between the United States and three fellow World Trade Organisation (WTO) nations seeking compensation in the wake of an online gambling dispute has been revealed as less meaningful than was first hoped. The dispute arose last year after the Americans lost a WTO dispute with Antigua and Barbuda over discriminatory legislation covering online gambling.

In a surprise move, the United States has “advised” Antigua and Barbuda to delay taking any action after being awarded USD 21 million in annual trade sanctions by a World Trade Organisation (WTO) arbitration panel earlier this month. According to the Associated Press news agency, US Trade Representative Spokesman Sean Spicer stated that the tiny Caribbean island nation should wait to implement any sanctions pending American changes to its international trade obligations under the WTO treaty.

Statements released late last week by the United States and the European Union (EU) in the wake of a trade agreement that kept the two out of a World Trade Organization arbitration panel are creating confusion. The EU wanted compensation for America’s refusal to open up its online gambling market to foreign companies, a breach of WTO rules, under legislation passed in 1997. The White House agreed a plan last week along with and Japan and Canada that kept non-US gambling firms away in return for concessions.

The United States Friday urged Antigua to hold off on imposing sanctions authorized by the WTO in a dispute over online gambling, saying Washington was revising its WTO commitments. US Trade Representative (USTR) spokesman Sean Spicer advised Antigua to delay any action after an arbitrator for the Geneva-based World Trade Organization allowed the Caribbean nation to impose sanctions worth USD 21 million a year, with the right to target US services, copyrights and trademarks.

Antigua and Barbuda expects to receive a big damage award from the World Trade Organization in a long-running Internet gambling dispute with the United States, a lawyer for the Caribbean nation said this week. The expected ruling by a WTO arbitration panel is set for tomorrow, Friday. “We feel pretty confident about our case, to be honest. We really feel like we have the upper hand here,” Mark Mendel, a private attorney representing Antigua.

As the contentious trade dispute between Europe and the US over Internet gaming industry continues, the British Government said it favored US regulation of Internet gambling as opposed to prohibition. "The British Government has signaled quite clearly its support for regulation rather than prohibition of gambling by the recent implementation of the (Unlawful Internet) Gambling Act," said Emily Bourne...

It was held “State of the Industry: Internet Gambling at the Crossroads” keynote session at G2E, in which panelists said pending sanctions by the WTO due to US policy on Internet gambling could be the major driver for legalization. On the heels of today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill proposing an independent study on the feasibility of legalizing and regulating online gambling...

Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister says he is hopeful that weekend meetings with members of the U.S. Congress would help resolve an ongoing trade battle with the United States over Internet gambling. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer discussed the dispute with New York Democrat Representative Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and three other members of the Congressional Black Caucus Sunday on the sidelines of a regional business conference.

The victorious trade attorney for Antigua and Barbuda in its World Trade Organisation (WTO) case against the United States has announced that he expects a decision on the tiny nation’s compensation claim by the end of the month. Mark Mendel led the legal team that successfully pled the tiny Caribbean nation’s case against the US over its protectionist Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) legislation passed in late last year.

An agreement between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States (US) on compensation for America’s withdrawal from World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade obligations has faced a second delay. According to Mark Mendel, the attorney representing Antigua and Barbuda at the WTO, there has been an agreement to extend the time-frame for resolution of negotiations between the two countries until 14 Dec. The negotiations were originally scheduled to be completed in September, but were first extended to October and now into December.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has announced that the process of working out fair compensation for nations impacted by the withdrawal of the United States from treaty obligations on gambling will continue this week at a hearing scheduled for today in Geneva. The meeting in Switzerland will feature a WTO panel hearing verbal submissions from both the US and Antigua and Barbuda Governments, both of which will get the chance to pose questions based on the arguments raised by both sides regarding compensation.