One consultation period ends and another begins. And if you are a hacked off banana trader this week, do not read the OFT’s post-consultation comments, which clearly illustrate that the process was nothing more than the normal political sham.

We all know there were negative comments from suppliers about their relationships with customers, but by highlighting its position as protector of the consumer and reiterating the requirement for attributable written evidence, the OFT has not surprisingly side-stepped the real issue.

Did anyone at the OFT squirm when they watched Dispatches on Monday night, I wonder? And equally to the point, were there any suppliers out there who wished they’d stood up to be counted too? The OFT is right at least in that respect, the mechanism is there, now the suppliers need to develop balls enough to use it.

Meanwhile the EU now has until next Thursday to negotiate with the Latin Americans and come up with an alternative proposal for the WTO on banana tariffs. They may say a week is a long time in politics, but I doubt there are many involved in this convoluted process who would agree with that.

I do not envy them - there is, at least in an ethical sense, no easy solution to fit all. What the politics must over-ride though are the understandably biased views of the multi-nationals. Every company must look after themselves, of course, but the social, economic and environmental impacts of this decision, as and when it eventually gets set in stone, have to tip the balance against commercial greed. l

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