GENEVA, CMC - Antigua and Barbuda will once again raise its ongoing cross-border gambling services dispute with the United States when the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization meets here on Wednesday.

According to the agenda distributed ahead of the meeting, Antigua and Barbuda will make a statement regarding the implementation of the recommendations and rulings adopted by the DSB in the dispute.

Last month, The Antigua and Barbuda government said it had been granted authorization by the WTO to suspend certain concessions and obligations it has under international law to the United States in respect of intellectual property rights.

“Having initially received preliminary authorization to do so from the WTO in 2007 and negotiating in good faith with the United States government for a settlement of the case over the course of the last five years, Antigua is seeking final WTO approval of its sanctions in order to compel the United States to either comply with the rulings in Antigua’s favour in the gambling dispute or to negotiate a fair and reasonable solution with the Antiguan government, “the government said.

In 2007, the WTO awarded small Caribbean island the right to target U.S. services, copyrights and trademarks in retaliation for its online betting ban. But the WTO capped the limit of annual trade sanctions at US$21 million.