The Canary Islands’ banana sector has responded to the European Parliament’s trade committee decision to endorse the EU’s plan to reduce import taxes for Latin American bananas by calling for a substantial rise in financial aid for their producers.
The presidents of the European Banana Producers’ Association (APEB) and Canaries association Asprocan, Leopoldo Cologán and Francisco Rodríguez, have urged the European Union to deliver an extra €30m worth of support for the islands’ growers.
At a press conference where they were flanked by leading members of Spain’s right-leaning opposition Popular Party, the two presidents also called on the Spanish government to publish details of aid provided for Canaries banana shipments.
Mr Cologán claimed that with greater financial support from the EU and transport subsidies, Canaries growers would be able to “lower the price” of their products and compete with prices that had gained ground for the sector over recent years.
As well as 'recognising the work done' by Popular Party MEP Gabriel Mato to press for greater financial support for Canaries banana sector in the European Parliament, APEB’s president also urged the Spanish authorities to “get their feet wet” by committing to improved aid for transportation, news agency Europa Press reports.
Asprocan’s Francisco Rodríguez said that the EU’s moves to establish not just an overall tariff reduction, but individual changes for certain countries, had left Canaries banana growers in a “very difficult situation”, adding that they had already suffered their “worst year for prices” during 2010.
For this reason, he said that the association was redoubling its efforts to persuade the European authorities to provide economic compensation that would “guarantee the survival” of banana production on the Canary Islands.
