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News :: Miscellaneous |
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US Refusing To Honor Its Obligations Under WTO Agreement |
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by Granma International
(No verified email address) |
06 Jan 2002
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WTO condemns United States for trademark violation |
PARIS.- The appeals court of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that the U.S. law that blocks the marketing of Cuban Havana Club rum in the United States is incompatible with the TRIPS agreement on intellectual property, the Pernod Ricard group announced in the French capital.
As a result, the WTO body has recommended that Washington bring its legislation into line with its obligations in relation to aforementioned agreement, stressed Pernod Ricard, an associate of the Cuba Ron Corporation that markets Havana Club.
Section 211 of a U.S. law promoting the blockade of Cuba was adopted in 1998 "to prevent the marketing" of that Cuban rum in the United States and "to protect the interests" of the U.S. Bacardí company, the group added.
The definitive decision of the WTO appeals court concludes that Section 211 is in contradiction with two fundamental principles of the TRIPS Agreement: nondiscrimination and most favored nation status; in other words, the obligation to grant to Cuba the same trade advantages as those accorded other WTO member states, the report notes.
Last August, the WTO found in favor of the European Union, which was supporting French corporation Pernod Ricard, and against the United States, for the latter country’s refusal to market products of Cuban origin subject to embargo.
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