GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: Diplomats Latin American banana producing countries have agreed to an EU offer to cut banana tariffs, diplomats said, a move that could end the longest-standing dispute at the World Trade Organisation.
Under the proposed deal, taxes imposed by the European Union on bananas from Latin America will fall progressively from €176/ton to €114/ton between 2010 and 2017, said the sources.
The dispute is the longest-running in the WTO, brought about by the EU's banana import regime introduced in July 1993.
While bananas shipped from Latin American countries are subject to import taxes, those from mostly poor former European colonies in Africa, the Caribbeans and the Pacific (ACP) region enter the bloc tariff-free.
With the latest Latin American-European deal, Brussels is still working out a package to placate its ACP partners, which fear that their competitive advantage on a major market could be eroded.
According to an internal European Commission memo obtained by AFP, ACP countries would be paid up to €190 million ($284 million) over four years to help them cope with the tariff changes.
The dispute was first brought to the WTO in 1996 by Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States.
Although the United States does not export bananas to the EU, three of the largest producers with plantations in Latin America are US-based multinationals, Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole.
The WTO ruled against the EU policies for the first time in 1997, saying that they were "inconsistent" with global trade rules.
During a mini-ministerial meeting in July 2008, the parties came close to an agreement to end the dispute.
But it fell through since it was tied to the overall WTO Doha Round of trade liberalisation negotiations, where an accord was not reached.
Source: AFP
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