WTO and US gambling industry
International Herald Tribune article extract in italics.
On Friday, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John K. Veroneau said federal and state laws have prohibited for-profit interstate gambling operations for decades. “It would be nonsensical for the U.S. to make a commitment to open up interstate gambling for foreign providers.”
Veroneau said the WTO process allows the U.S. to clarify its restrictions to “recreational services” offered internationally.
In the early 1990s, when the U.S. was drawing up international commitments to open its market to different services, gambling prohibitions weren’t spelled out, he said. A clarification undercuts WTO member claims for compensation in lost revenue as a result of the ban, he added.
http://www.iht. com/articles/ ap/2007/05/ 04/business/ NA-FIN-US- WTO-Internet- Gambling. php
This GATS clarification may have enormous ramifications in relation to the future world trade in gambling supply outlets and globalisation of the gambling industry.
