Brussels, 04/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - Latin-American producers having rejected the system of banana import licences resting on the principle of "first come, first served", presented by the European Commission on Wednesday while awaiting the purely tariff system (see other article page 9). Nine Latin-American banana producing countries had already agreed to reject this system, a press release published in Geneva by the Ambassador of Panama to the WTO recalls. "Guatemala, Honduras and Panama consider that the Commission's proposal is a tactic aimed at drawing attention away from the fact that the EU has not complied with the ruling passed down two years ago by the WTO", says the press release.. Honduras' Ambassador, Dacio Castillo, stresses that the Central American countries presented an alternative in November 1999, resting on the traditional rights of the operators. The Panamanian Minister for Trade, Joaquim Jecome, announced that he would be coming to Brussels, on behalf of the Central-American countries, to convince a "minority block" of Member States to oppose the system proposed by the Commission, says the EFE press agency.