Antiguans Show Optimism After The Online Casino Dispute's WTO Hearing

7 Dec 2006

Following a two-day hearing of The World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva last week, the Antiguan delegates can show some optimism concerning the online casino dispute with the US. "We are fully supported by many countries, such as Japan, China and some members of the European Union" said Dr. Errol Cort, the finance minister of the tiny Caribben country when addressing the online casino issue.

"We are specially motivated by the fact that those countries decided to become active players in this WTO process" added Cort. At least when it comes to the European Union it shouldn't really surprise anyone, considering the 15.5 billion dollars value tag of the online casino industry. Most british citizens strongly oppose the US stance, following the signing of the anti-online casino law, also know as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Mark Mendel, Antigua's legal adviser, said the panel would have followed up the talks with a series of questions by to the disputing parties.

The record of those two days hearing is scheduled to be released on December 22th, and the interim report on the online casino conflict will be released on January 11th. "The parties will receive a certain amount of time to submit their comments to the interim reports, and after that the WTO will release its final report, probably around February 2007" said Cort in his statement. Although there are still 3 months to wait until the final resolution, it's already clear now that the decision may change forever the online casino industry in the US, and all around the world.