Costa Rica And US Settle Gaming Dispute
by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York
25 March 2008
Costa Rica has reportedly reached a compensation settlement with the United States in a long-running dispute over legislation which has shut out foreign internet gaming companies from operating in the US market.
According to a recent report by Costa Rican daily the Tico Times, the Central American country has accepted a US offer of greater access to other service markets, including research and development, storage, technical testing and analysis, in compensation for the closure of the US online gaming market to Costa Rican operators.
This agreement is supposedly very similar to the deal that Washington struck with the European Union late in 2007 which, according to the European Commission, provides EU service suppliers with new trade opportunities in the US postal and courier, research and development, storage and warehouse sectors.
Canada and Japan have apparently also accepted similar US offers, while the US Trade Representative's office has said that it expected India and Macau to also fall into line.
Costa Rica's Foreign Trade Minister Marco Ruiz, was quoted in a written statement as welcoming the agreement with the US.
“The agreement has been satisfactory for the country,” he stated.
The European Union has stressed however, that the compensation package agreed in December is separate from its ongoing investigation over the adoption in the US of the Unlawful internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. This law prohibits the use of payment instruments by financial institutions to handle the processing of any form of internet gambling that is illegal under US federal or state law and led to the collapse of many global gaming operations. All EU suppliers of remote gambling services have now withdrawn from the US market further to the adoption of the UIGEA.
Earlier this month, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson announced that the European Commission would examine whether US gambling laws are in breach of international trade rules, and discuss the matter with the United States.
"The US has the right to address legitimate public policy concerns relating to internet gambling, but discrimination against EU companies cannot be part of the policy mix," Mandelson commented at the time.
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Our goverment is making us all look like idiots. We are giving away money and trade that we so desperately need right now to stay in our own country just so they don't have to say they screwed up and that they allowed a few moralistic politicians (don't even get me started on them) to control this entire issue. It would certainly be more benificial to all concerned to overturn there original decisions and spend their time and our money on regulating online gambling in this country.
What I'm amazed about is how different parts of the administration seem to think that they're a force unto themselves and that they can personally dictate what is and is not the law ... and what should or should not be traded.
I guess that the complexity and jurisdictional overlap in inevitiable with 50 states and 300 million people ... but FFS it does apear that for the most part the US Governmental bodies have little idea what each other are up to.
But tell me - what does this do to the myriad of Costa Rican domiciled sportsbooks that continue to promote and publicise US based sports and who (ahem) appear to accept bets from US players?
Nothing? So is it simply a non-event?
Is this just the governmental fob-off to Costa Rica to stop WTO action?
Congressman Calls for U.S. Trade Representative to Provide Details of WTO Internet Gambling Settlement
DeFazio questions USTR settlement of trade dispute absent Congressional
mandate
WASHINGTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Peter
DeFazio (D-OR) has requested the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) disclose
trade concessions made to foreign trading partners without Congressional
approval. DeFazio's inquiry raises the possibility of Congressional
intervention to void new market access commitments granted by USTR to the
European Union and other complainants as compensation for a United States
trade violation regarding Internet gambling.
In a letter circulated to all members of Congress last week, DeFazio
encouraged his colleagues to join him in calling for the USTR to provide a
copy of the concession agreement between the United States and the European
Union. The USTR had recently rejected a Freedom of Information Act request
for the same document, claiming the agreement was classified for national
security reasons. "There is a concern that the USTR may have been ambitious
in its use of a 'national security' classification to avoid any publicity
of which new business sectors are to be subject to the GATS (General
Agreement on Trade in Services) treaty," said DeFazio's March 6 letter.
"The issue will be whether the USTR abused its authority by granting
new market access to the EU without first securing the consent of the trade
committees in Congress," said Nao Matsukata, formerly Director of Policy
Planning for USTR Robert Zoellick and now a Senior Advisor for Alston &
Bird, LLP. "Ultimately, this could invalidate the deal with the EU and
cause various WTO Members to revisit the issue of fair compensation from
the United States."
Congressman DeFazio's request is an indication that the
Administration's unilateral action to attempt to resolve the WTO Internet
gambling dispute is in jeopardy. "Congress should have been consulted
before the US agreed to these trade concessions," said Jeffrey Sandman,
spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. "We hope
that Mr. DeFazio's colleagues will join him in demanding more transparency,
communication, and consultation from the Administration on Internet
gambling. A non-discriminatory market for Internet gambling in the United
States will restore integrity to the international trading system."
The DeFazio request comes following a contentious trade dispute over
Internet gambling, in which the Caribbean nation of Antigua successfully
challenged the regulation of Internet gambling in the United States. The
European Union announced earlier this week that it will open an
investigation into a possible international trade violation by the US on
this issue. The investigation is the result of a Trade Barriers Regulation
complaint filed by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), which represents
the largest remote gambling companies in Europe. The RGA claims the US is
in violation of international trade law by threatening and pursuing
criminal prosecutions, forfeitures and other enforcement actions against
foreign Internet gaming operators, while allowing domestic U.S. online
gaming operators, primarily horse betting, to flourish.
Legislation introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), the
Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046), would
regulate Internet gambling and resolve the international trade dispute.
"Rather than paying out millions in trade concessions, which would have
an adverse impact on the American economy, the US should embrace the
legislative solution presented by the Frank bill, which brings the U.S.
into compliance by regulating Internet gambling and creating a level
playing field among domestic and foreign Internet gambling operators," said
Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling
Initiative.
A provision of the European Union's Trade Barriers Regulation allows
any EU company or association to complain against obstacles to trade in
other countries, which the EU must then investigate. After the
investigation, the EU could pursue discussions with the US to find an
appropriate solution to end the discrimination. If the parties cannot
settle the matter themselves, the EU could bring a case against the US to
the WTO.
Replies
Maybe that is just too simple for them....
I guess that the complexity and jurisdictional overlap in inevitiable with 50 states and 300 million people ... but FFS it does apear that for the most part the US Governmental bodies have little idea what each other are up to.
But tell me - what does this do to the myriad of Costa Rican domiciled sportsbooks that continue to promote and publicise US based sports and who (ahem) appear to accept bets from US players?
Nothing? So is it simply a non-event?
Is this just the governmental fob-off to Costa Rica to stop WTO action?
From the PRN News Wire:
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/st...
Congressman Calls for U.S. Trade Representative to Provide Details of WTO Internet Gambling Settlement
DeFazio questions USTR settlement of trade dispute absent Congressional
mandate
WASHINGTON, March 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Peter
DeFazio (D-OR) has requested the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) disclose
trade concessions made to foreign trading partners without Congressional
approval. DeFazio's inquiry raises the possibility of Congressional
intervention to void new market access commitments granted by USTR to the
European Union and other complainants as compensation for a United States
trade violation regarding Internet gambling.
In a letter circulated to all members of Congress last week, DeFazio
encouraged his colleagues to join him in calling for the USTR to provide a
copy of the concession agreement between the United States and the European
Union. The USTR had recently rejected a Freedom of Information Act request
for the same document, claiming the agreement was classified for national
security reasons. "There is a concern that the USTR may have been ambitious
in its use of a 'national security' classification to avoid any publicity
of which new business sectors are to be subject to the GATS (General
Agreement on Trade in Services) treaty," said DeFazio's March 6 letter.
"The issue will be whether the USTR abused its authority by granting
new market access to the EU without first securing the consent of the trade
committees in Congress," said Nao Matsukata, formerly Director of Policy
Planning for USTR Robert Zoellick and now a Senior Advisor for Alston &
Bird, LLP. "Ultimately, this could invalidate the deal with the EU and
cause various WTO Members to revisit the issue of fair compensation from
the United States."
Congressman DeFazio's request is an indication that the
Administration's unilateral action to attempt to resolve the WTO Internet
gambling dispute is in jeopardy. "Congress should have been consulted
before the US agreed to these trade concessions," said Jeffrey Sandman,
spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. "We hope
that Mr. DeFazio's colleagues will join him in demanding more transparency,
communication, and consultation from the Administration on Internet
gambling. A non-discriminatory market for Internet gambling in the United
States will restore integrity to the international trading system."
The DeFazio request comes following a contentious trade dispute over
Internet gambling, in which the Caribbean nation of Antigua successfully
challenged the regulation of Internet gambling in the United States. The
European Union announced earlier this week that it will open an
investigation into a possible international trade violation by the US on
this issue. The investigation is the result of a Trade Barriers Regulation
complaint filed by the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), which represents
the largest remote gambling companies in Europe. The RGA claims the US is
in violation of international trade law by threatening and pursuing
criminal prosecutions, forfeitures and other enforcement actions against
foreign Internet gaming operators, while allowing domestic U.S. online
gaming operators, primarily horse betting, to flourish.
Legislation introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), the
Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046), would
regulate Internet gambling and resolve the international trade dispute.
"Rather than paying out millions in trade concessions, which would have
an adverse impact on the American economy, the US should embrace the
legislative solution presented by the Frank bill, which brings the U.S.
into compliance by regulating Internet gambling and creating a level
playing field among domestic and foreign Internet gambling operators," said
Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling
Initiative.
A provision of the European Union's Trade Barriers Regulation allows
any EU company or association to complain against obstacles to trade in
other countries, which the EU must then investigate. After the
investigation, the EU could pursue discussions with the US to find an
appropriate solution to end the discrimination. If the parties cannot
settle the matter themselves, the EU could bring a case against the US to
the WTO.