EU,
Cuba spar with US over 'Havana Club' rum
Source:
France 24
Jun
25th
The
European Union and Cuba locked horns with the United States on Tuesday at the
World Trade Organization, slamming Washington's long failure to void a
trademark law affecting the rum business.
The
battle centres on a 1998 law which allows a US brand of rum to use the
"Havana Club" name despite it already being owned by a company based
in Cuba, which is in business with France's Pernod Ricard group.
The law
was struck down by the WTO in 2002.
The WTO
oversees respect for the rules of global commerce amongst its 159 member
nations, and in 1999 was asked by the EU to assess whether the law was out of
line.
The US
law on intellectual property rights allows companies to use trademarks even if
they were previously registered to Cuban companies.
Cuba
has been under US sanctions since 1960, the year after Fidel Castro came to
power and installed a communist state, seizing the property of US individuals
and companies.
The WTO
wrapped up its complex dispute settlement process in 2002, finding fault with
the legislation, and the US was ordered to adapt it within a reasonable period
of time.
As the
plaintiff, the EU agreed multiple extensions of the deadline set for Washington
to act.
But at
a dispute settlement hearing on Tuesday, its trade diplomats told the WTO that
it was time for Washington to settle the issue, officials said.
Although
Cuba is not formally a plaintiff, its trade diplomats also told the session
that enough was enough, a message echoed by members, including China.
Washington's
trade diplomats countered that the relevant bills were before US lawmakers, and
that the country was working to resolve the issue.
But
critics said that lodging bills could not be considered falling into line,
saying Washington had had ample time to comply.
The
1998 law banned Havana Club Holdings, a joint venture between Pernod Ricard and
Havana Rum and Liquors of Cuba, which owns the Havana Club trademark, forcing
it to defend its business in US courts against the Bacardi-Martini group.
As late
as May 2012, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a Pernod Ricard appeal of the
law, allowing Bacardi to keep selling its Havana Club brand of rum inside the
United States.
Bacardi-Martini,
based in Bermuda, has been distributing its rum in the US under the Havana Club
brand name since 1994.
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