“WTO Offshore Gambling Ruling Leaves No Clear Winner”

After the long-anticipated WTO appellate body ruling last Thursday, regarding the legitimacy of U.S. offshore gambling policies, it would appear that neither the U.S. nor Antigua and Barbuda can claim a victory or a loss. Most readings of the verdict say that it rules both in favor of the two parties and against the two parties.

The original WTO decision, which was appealed by the U.S. on the basis that U.S. restrictions on online gambling were necessary in order to “uphold public morality” and “public order”, agreed with Antigua and Barbuda who argued that the U.S. restrictions against offshore gambling violated international trade agreements that the U.S. had signed.

The appellate ruling, however, while still in agreement with its original findings, has added that the U.S. has legitimate cause for concern regarding the social problems associated with gambling. In fact, the WTO appellate ruling allows the U.S. to maintain most of its existing online gambling restrictions. Apparently, enough of them can remain in place so that the U.S. Trade Representative did not feel the need to ask Congress to relax its restrictions on the online gambling industry. Consequently, the U.S. has interpreted the decision as an affirmation of its policies.

Not to be discounted, however, is the WTO’s finding that U.S. policies are discriminatory, as they ultimately give American citizens access to domestic gambling services more easily than to offshore online gambling services. Antigua and Barbuda maintain, therefore, that this ruling indicates that U.S. policies do violate the free trade agreements the U.S. has signed, which obligates the U.S. to permit offshore gambling. According to one attorney arguing Antigua’s case, the ruling should now permit U.S. companies to do business with Antigua-based online gambling companies without fear of prosecution from U.S. legal authorities.

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