The World Trade Organisation has ruled in favour of a complaint by the United States against the European Union's banana import regime, US trade officials said on Friday. "We can confirm that the United States prevailed in its challenge," an official said on condition of anonymity.
The United States had argued that EU import duties of 176 euros (255 dollars) a tonne imposed on banana imports from Latin America harmed exports from major producer nations like Ecuador, Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua. Although the United States does not export bananas to the EU itself, three of the largest producers with plantations in Latin America are US-based multinationals: Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole.
In contrast, developing countries in the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, which include many former European colonies, can import bananas under a quota system that permits 775,000 tonnes of duty-free imports per year. The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body already ruled last November in a similar case brought by Ecuador.
Latin America accounts for four-fifths of EU banana imports, with ACP countries making up the rest. "The bananas dispute is the longest running dispute in WTO history. This is the tenth proceeding against the EC," the US official said. The EU's current import regime replaces one that itself was deemed in breach of WTO rules in 2001 after a complaint by Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the US. Under the previous regime, bananas from Latin America and non-ACP countries were subject to a tariff of 75 euros a tonne under a certain quota level and 680 euros a tonne above that level.
Ecuador, the leading exporter of bananas to the European Union, argued last year that the latest EU system was preventing it from maintaining its share of the European market. Quito said its share fell to 27.5 percent in the first eight months of 2006 from 29.9 percent in that in fact, imports in the EU had increased from Latin American producers. "Data shows that imports from Latin American countries have increased substantially - 10.7 percent in 2006 compared to 2005 and 8.0 percent in the first three quarters of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006 - since the introduction of the Tariff Only regime in 2006," he said.