Cuba Condemns US Disrespect for World Trade Rules

Geneva, Feb 27 (Prensa Latina) Cuba deplored here today US disrespect for international law and for the decisions of the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization.

Speaking during a DSB meeting, Cuban Ambassador to Geneva-based international bodies, Anayansi Rodriguez, said that Washington continues doing nothing to implement OSD resolutions.

She recalled that 11 years have passed since the DSB ruled the incompatibility of “Section 211 of the US Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1998″ with the Agreement on trade-related and Paris Convention-related Aspects of the Intellectual Property Rights.

Cuba considers unacceptable this situation of prolonged illegality and insubordination to decisions of the WTO’s top jurisdiction body,” said Rodriguez.

Section 211 is one of the many rules underpinning the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba and US authorities base on it to justify and protect the robbery of the Havana Club brand in that territory.

“It also has the peculiarity that it not only affects the interests of Cuban businesses, but also those from other WTO member countries, like French company Pernod Ricard,” she denounced.

Those unilateral policies are rejected in many forums, said Rodriguez, who recalled that in the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the European Union a declaration was adopted stating that the blockade represents a serious threat to multilateralism.

A group of countries, including Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, China, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, South Africa and Mexico, supported Cuba’s statement, according to a note from the Cuban mission in Geneva.