The European banana management committee has given its backing to the European Commission proposal for an import quota of 775,000 tonnes of bananas from ACP countries in 2007.

Of the quota, 81 per cent is allocated on a first-come-first-served basis and 19 per cent is distributed through the system of licences that has been operational for the period March to December this year. The first-come-first-served quota allocation will be distributed evenly in six phases which will be open to importers every two months. The remaining 19 per cent will be allocated to importers based on their proportion of imports during 2006.

The banana management committee is made up of representatives from all 25 EU member states and their agreement means the Commission proposal can formally be accepted in the next few days.

Meanwhile, Latin American countries are still disgruntled at the €176 a tonne tariff that they must pay to enter the EU market. Ecuador is still considering pressing ahead with a request for a World Trade Organisation arbitration panel to meet on the issue. While, the Costa Rican vice minister of foreign affairs, Amparo Pacheco has warned any Latin American request for WTO arbitration in the dispute around the European banana import regime could endanger the co-operative trade agreements between Central America and the EU. Costa Rica would prefer to negotiate a reduction using mediation.

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