Dr Errol Cort, Antigua’s minister of finance, returned recently from the U.S. to launch a scathing attack against U.S. congress for its decision to adopt the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Dr Cort was joined in his condemnation of U.S. actions by Antiguan lawyer Mark Mendel, who played a key role in presenting his country’s case against the U.S. to the World Trade Organization. Mendel criticized the legislation, referring to it as “baldly protectionist” and “as contrary to the decision of the WTO in our case as can possibly be imagined.” He went on to add that “expanding domestic remote gambling while at the same time further impeding our operators the right to provide these services - which the United States committed to do under the WTO agreements - is almost impossible to comprehend.”

Dr Cort’s own comments were widely reported in gambling and affiliated media. “It is remarkable that on the heels of our visit, during the course of which we highlighted the desire of Antigua to amicably work together with the United States Government in ensuring the safe delivery of these services to consumers in America, that Congress should choose to further protect their remote domestic industry at the cost of countries such as Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.

The delegation headed by Dr Cort met with representatives of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Trade Representative to discuss a possible resolution to the U.S. government’s failure to date to comply with a landmark WTO ruling in favor of Antigua.

Other items on the delegation’s agenda included the federal court’s indictment against gambling firm BetonSports and further efforts to extradite Sportingbet’s chairman, Peter Dicks, on state morality charges. Both developments have created concern for Antigua, which is home to some of the world’s most established online gambling operators. Approximately $6 billion dollars is wagered online by U.S. gambling fans each year – 25 percent of which goes directly to Antigua.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act prohibits all international and state to state online gambling financial transactions. Under the new legislation, banks and other financial institutions will be prevented from processing payments to online casino sites.

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