The long-running trade dispute between the European Union and Latin American banana exporting nations could be drawing to a close, with negotiations over new tariff levels progressing well.
Senior officials from all parties have been negotiating intensely, according to a report by Reuters, with hopes high that the deal could be in place before the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) ministerial conference, which begins on 30 November.
'We are not there yet, but I perceive a willingness on all sides to come to an agreement,' Ronald Saborio Soto, Costa Rica's WTO ambassador who coordinates Latin American negotiations on tropical products, told Reuters.
'We feel the elements are now there, and we feel we could close this quite quickly,' confirmed David O'Sullivan, director general for trade in the European Commission.
No details on the potential deal were released, although any cut in banana tariffs for Latin American suppliers is expected to lead to Latin American nations dropping outstanding challenges to the EU at the WTO.
In turn, the EU is expected to provide compensation to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) banana-exporting countries who would lose their preferential access to the European market, Reuters said.
Last year, similar negotiations broke down during the Doha round of global trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland, when a newly brokered deal fell through following the collapse of wider trade negotiations.
Under that deal, LatinAmerican exporters and the EU had agreed (within theframework of broader WTO Doha round negotiations) to lower import duties for bananas fromLatin American countries from €176 per tonne to €114 per tonne by 2016, with an initial cut to €148 per tonne.
