Trade officials from the European Union and Latin America are understood to be approaching a deal which would see the long-running dispute over tariffs on bananas imported into the EU finally reach a resolution.
According to trade sources close to the negotiations, a deal is set to be announced in the next few days following two weeks of meetings in Brussels, during which a draft settlement has been finalised.
The provisionally titled Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas, which would also compel the EU to make concessions on import duties for other tropical products such as pineapples, needs the backing of US officials in Washington to be accepted by the WTO, which is due to hold its ministerial conference on 30 November.
According to the sources, the deal is set to resemble the one which was laid out in July 2008, with the EU agreeing to reduce its banana import tariff from the current €176 per tonne to €148 per tonne immediately, and lowering it to €114 per tonne incrementally over the subsequent seven years.
An EU aid package for ACP countries aimed at 'improving competitiveness, economic diversification and mitigating the social consequences of adjustment' is expected to be implemented between 2010 and 2013. Some €190m in additional aid has reportedly been earmarked by the European authorities to support them via Banana Accompanying Measures (BAMs).
For their part, Latin American countries are expected to drop all current legal actions brought against the EU through the WTO should the agreement be accepted. Hopes will also be raised for a final agreement on the Doha Round global trade talks.
