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{IRA} Banana Dispute
- A 20-year long dispute over banana imports has come to an end. On
Thursday November 8th the European Union and 11 Latin American countries
signed an agreement which ended legal disputes and committed to
reducing the maximum tariffs on bananas.
- The dispute (the longest
running in the history of multilateral trade) dates back to the
formation of the European single market, when a common system of quotas
and tariffs was implemented, restricting banana imports from outside
Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific.
- Over the last two decades, several
Latin American countries (and America) have complained to the World
Trade Organisation, which adjudicates between its members, over this
preferential treatment.
- And with good reason; the humble banana is one
of the world’s most popular fruits, worth some $8 billion in world
exports.
- The European Union imports around a third of the bananas
traded.
- Ecuador, one of the countries in the agreement and one of the
world's biggest producers, is the world's biggest exporter of bananas
and Europe's biggest supplier.
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