A new EU banana import regime and an end to the long-running dispute between Latin American exporters and the European trading bloc was more elusive than ever after the Doha round of WTO trade talks failed this week.
But officials from Ecuador, the world’s largest banana exporter, will try to hold the EU to a promise of lower duties on bananas that was made at the weekend, and do not rule out further legal action against the EU.
An agreement had been reached on Sunday under which the EU would have cut its €176 (£138) a tonne entry tariff for Latin American bananas gradually to €114 by 2016.
Representatives from African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) countries were unhappy with the new figure, fearing Latin America would take an even larger share of the EU market.
On Wednesday, ACP representatives had not yet officially commented on the failure of the talks, but there is likely to be relief, at least in the short term, until any legal challenge is mounted by Ecuador.
No comments yet