Presidents of seven key banana-exporting countries in Latin America have united to form a regional body and sign a declaration outlining their concerns about the proposed EU banana import regime changes and they are urging the union to respect its commitment to international trade obligations.

It is the first time in history that the presidents of Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama have united in this way.

The declaration was signed at a summit meeting in the Costa Rican capital San José last week.

“As part of our agreements at this summit, we are instructing our authorities to define the constitution of a Regional Union of Banana-Exporting Countries which support Latin American exporters in their common initiatives in the area of banana production,” said Costa Rican president Abel Pacheco as he opened the meeting.

The leaders strongly oppose the e230 a tonne tarrif proposed by the EU as they believe it will destabilise their entire region. A e75 tarrif would help Latin American banana-producing countries continue to supply the EU market and keep a large part of their populations employed, the countries said.

African-Caribbean-Pacific countries account for 20 per cent of EU bananas, a further 20 per cent is supplied by its own producers and Latin American nations represent 60 per cent.

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