The Spanish government has pledged to provide support to banana producers in the Canary Islands if, as expected, an agreement is struck between the European Union and Latin American countries to lower the current banana import tariff.
Speaking in Brussels, outside a meeting of the European Council of Agriculture, Spanish agriculture minister Elena Espinosa said that plans had already been drawn up to compensate growers on the Canaries should the tariff change take place.
According to the minister, the Spanish authorities have already agreed measures to provide support to the Canary Islands banana sector in the event of the tariff change.
Spanish news agency EFE reported that an agreement between Latin American banana exporter countries and the European Union could be finalised at a meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva on 30 November.
The anticipated deal is expected to see the import tariff for bananas from Latin America being lowered from €176 per tonne to €114 per tonne within the next 10 years.
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