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ANTIGUA, St. John's
The Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Division of Gaming , is pleased to announce that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body released a favourable ruling for the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda , in its final report. This is a historical milestone for Antigua and Barbuda , as a developing nation and as one of the smallest members of the WTO. This triumph emboldens the desire of the WTO, whereby to facilitate the increase in participation of developing countries in trade and services and the expansion of their service exports. Additionally, the ruling in a general context can be viewed as taking into account, the need for developing countries to improve their economic and social development through the liberalization of trade in services.
In its 146 page Report, the Appellate Body “recommends that the Dispute Settlement Body, request the United States to bring its measures, found in this Report and in the Panel Report as modified by this Report to be inconsistent with the General Agreement on Trade in Services, into conformity with its obligations under the Agreement”. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda awaits a detailed legal assessment of the Report from lead Attorney, Mr. Mark Mendel and based on this assessment, will engage the United States on the modalities of the ruling.
The full Report was posted on the WTO website at approximately 10:00 a.m. central time and an electronic copy may be obtained from www.wto.org . The Final Report is in PDF format using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
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