Antigua and Barbuda is close to resolving a long-term online poker dispute with the US, with the two countries having reportedly agreed to an arrangement over revenue.
According to CardPlayer.com, the US early last decade banned the island nation’s online gambling industry from conducting business with Americans, despite Antigua and Barbuda claiming that its regulated online gambling sites contributed $3 billion (€2.7 billion) to the US economy.
The case was brought before the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which ruled in favour of Antigua and Barbuda and said the US unfairly discriminated against the country’s licensed websites.
In 2007, the WTO said that Antigua and Barbuda should be given $21 million per year from the US, but this arrangement was never formally put in place, while a WTO ruling in 2013 that apparently granted permission for Antigua and Barbuda to take digital content from apparently any US firm was also not implemented.
However, the Antigua Observer newspaper has reported that the island nation is close to resolving the dispute, although the specifics of the agreement have not yet been disclosed.
Antigua and Barbuda Foreign Affairs Minister Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez said that the country’s government has reviewed a new proposal from the US.
Related article: Antigua plan angers United States
