Cuba Disqualifies US
Report at WTO
Cuba again disqualified
the US report before the
World Trade Organization
(WTO), because it
repeats Washington's
"lack of political will"
and disrespect for legal
obligations.
The Cuban attaché before
the United Nations and
Geneva-based
international agencies,
Jorge Ferrer, strongly
rejected the US report
at the WTO Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB).
The Cuban delegate said
the US report has an
inalterable content that
does not consider the
DSB agreements in
Section 211 of the US
Appropriations Act.
Under the umbrella of
that law, the company
Bacardi has
misappropriated the
world-famous Cuban brand
Havana Club in a
flagrant violation of
world trade rules that
Washington allows under
the pretext of the
economic blockade
imposed on the Caribbean
Island.
The United States has
banned sales of Cuban
products on US territory
due to the blockade, but
it has also encouraged
the commercialization of
goods and services under
the Havana brand, thus
breaking the law, he
explained.
It also registers new
brands under that label.
"This year, for example,
the US Patent and
Trademark Office
registered the brands
HAVANA COLLECTION and
OLD HAVANA, to New
Jersey- and Nevada-based
companies,
respectively," Ferrer
pointed out.
In the same line, the
European Communities,
the plaintiff in this
dispute, demanded that
the United States
immediately annul
Section 211, when the
issue was debated at the
meeting.
As on previous
occasions, delegates
from India, Brazil,
China, Thailand,
Venezuela and Vietnam
expressed concern about
Washington's
incompliance with DSB
recommendations and
resolutions for over six
years.
Washington's stance
undermines the
credibility of dispute
settlement bodies,
especially their
juridical principle of
immediate compliance,
and WTO Agreements,
particularly those
related to the
Intellectual Property
Right Agreement, they
said.
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