Antigua Worried US Online Casino Talks Might Have to Start Over
Dr. Errol Cort, the Minister of Finance for Antigua and Barbuda, is visiting Washington this week in a last-ditch attempt to salvage an agreement on how to settle damages The US owes the island nation for blocking online casinos. Dr. Cort revealed that if a resolution cannot be found, negotiations would probably have to begin back at the starting point with incoming members of the Obama administration.Early last year, Antigua was awarded $21 million annually in damages by the World Trade Organization, which found that, by blocking foreign online gambling sites while permitting similar US sites to operate, the US had violated free trade agreements. Since then, Antigua and its representatives have negotiated with extreme patience, while the US has dragged its feet at every opportunity.
The US Trade Representative, Susan Schwab, and her office have repeatedly ignored deadlines to settle the issue set by the WTO. Negotiations have sometimes started just hours before deadlines. The amount in question is a pittance in the US budget, but represents significant relief for the Antiguan economy.
Dr. Cort told the Antiguan Sun that on his present trip, he expects to meet with ranking officials from the Justice Department as well as the USTR people. Cort tried to maintain optimism as he noted, "We’ve been holding discussions and negotiations over many months; I believe that we’ve reached a point where we might be able to conclude these negotiations.”
Perhaps, if the Bush administration puts as much urgency into settling the Antigua dispute as it did in finalizing the UIGEA regulations, this last few days of talks will create a breakthrough deal. But, given the administration's consistently hostile stance toward Internet gambling, Dr. Cort can expect to be soon starting anew with Obama's people.
