The European Parliament has agreed to approve a reduction in the import entry tariff for Latin American bananas over the next eight years, although it has asked for Canaries producers to receive compensation.
In a session this week, the Parliament’s Committee on International Trade gave its seal of approval to the trade deal, signed in late 2009, between the European Union and 11 Latin American countries, reports Spanish news agency EFE.
Under the terms of the agreement, the EU reduced the trade tariff from the previous €176 per tonne to €148, with a further reduction to €114 per tonne planned for the next eight years for bananas from Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
However, the members of the committee also approved a report calling on the EU to evaluate the effects of the reduction on producers in European states and outlying territories, such as the Canary Islands.
