TRADE: Former Allies Split by the Blockade on Cuba

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Oct 16 1996 (IPS) - The United States, much criticised for its embargo on Cuba, found itself just one step away from a court appearance this Wednesday charged with violating international trade regulations.

The European Union (EU) has accused its transatlantic cousin of breaching these rules in sanctioning the Helms-Burton law, a measure which plans to punish foreign companies trading with Havana.

And the case against the United States will be resolved on November 20, when the World Trade Organisation (WTO) problem solving body meets.

The Europeans, who feel they will be adversely affected by the US law against Cuba, are hoping the next meeting of this body will lead to the formation of a panel to produce a verdict on the controversy.

The Helms-Burton law, although temporarily suspended, will sanction all businesses and executives dealing with goods confiscated during the 1959 Cuban revolution.

Ian Wilkinson, Brussels’ permanent aide to the WTO, said the US action was unacceptable as it violates rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General Agreement on Trade Services (GATS).

The US measures prevent certain objectives of the GATT, like the expansion of production and trade, and the right of access to markets, from being achieved.

The US ambassador to the WTO, Booth Gardner, replied that the controversial law had been sanctioned in order to foster “a rapid transition to democracy” on the Caribbean Island.

Gardner declared that Washington was “surprised and concerned” that their “European friends” were airing their “tactical and foreign policy differences over Cuba,” in front of a multilateral trade forum.

The European position was also shared by the nations of Latin America, Australia, Canada, India and Switzerland.

The Bolivian ambassador, Jorge Lema, spoke of the arguments of the Rio Group, the bloc which includes the Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The Rio Group, said Lema, rejects out of hand any attempt to impose extraterritorial unilateral sanctions on the internal law of another nation.

The Helms-Burton law, he added, contravenes the terms of the WTO and goes against the spirit of friendship and cooperation which should characterise the relations between the nations of the American hemisphere.

Cuba’s ambassador, Eumelio Caballero, classified the European initiative as praiseworthy, adding that it “has Cuba’s full support and sympathy.”

The constitution of the panel could be decided in the next session of the problem solving organism. From then, once the panel members are chosen, it will take between six and nine months for a verdict to be reached.

In this Wednesday’s session of the body, the decision was taken to create two panels in order to investigate a US complaint against Japan’s protectionist behaviour in the photographic film and paper sector, and another from Canada against the European ban on imports of meat carrying hormones.

The photography controversy is basically a fight between the US Kodak and Japan’s Fuji, which together dominate the world market.

The EU also announced that it would be entering this dispute as a third party, in order to defend the German company Agfa Gevaert.

Meanwhile, Argentina stressed it would be signing on as an interested party in Canada’s complaint against the EU barriers against hormones in meat, while Australia, Norway, the United States and New Zealand also showed some concern over the matter.

On another front, Canada said it would be continuing talks with Brazil related to the complaint against the Export Funding Programme (PROEX) brought in by Brasilia, which provides loans for aeroplanes bought from their company Embraer.

The United States also said they would be meeting with Pakistan, which they are accusing of violating patenting regulations on chemical products used in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.