cryptovest.com
Venezuela has filed a formal complaint before the World Trade Organization (WTO), addressing the US sanctions imposed on the South American country, including those on its national cryptocurrency, the Petro.
The complaint, submitted late last month and published on Tuesday, claims that the US sanctions are in violation of Venezuela’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
The complaint further states that the US has imposed the “discriminatory coercive trade-restrictive measures” in an attempt to “to isolate Venezuela economically.” Regarding the Petro, the document reads:
“Furthermore, inasmuch as digital currencies originating in the United States are not subject to the same prohibitions as Venezuelan digital currencies, the United States is according less favorable treatment to Venezuelan financial services and service suppliers than to like domestic financial services and service suppliers, in violation of Article XVII:1 of the GATS.”
Venezuela concludes that it “looks forward to receiving a reply from the United States to this request, with a view to setting a mutually convenient date for consultations.”
The request for consultations formally initiates a dispute in the WTO, seeking a satisfactory solution to the matter. The US has 60 days to respond to these complaints. If consultations fail to resolve the dispute after this period, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.
First announced in February 2018, the Petro was officially launched in October 2018, raising about $5 billion in one of the most successful initial coin offerings (ICOs) so far. The Ethereum-powered coin is backed by Venezuela’s oil, gold, and mineral reserves. The country’s new national currency, the Sovereign Bolivar, was also pegged to the Petro in July 2018.
