Brussels, 18/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission may adopt a proposal inviting Member States to give it a negotiating brief at the WTO with a view to setting in place the new Community banana import regime. In conformity with the agreement signed in 2001 with the United States and Ecuador to put an end to the "banana war", the EU had undertaken to no longer protect the European market from 1 January 2006 on except with customs duties, and therefore to abolish import quotas.
At this stage, the Commission has not revealed the adequate level at which customs duties must be set but stresses the need to find a balance between: - EU obligations at the WTO; - keeping a customs preference for imports from ACP countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Madagascar …) which account for less than 20% of the Community market; - maintaining production of Community operators (Guadeloupe and Martinique for France and the Canary Islands for Spain, Madeira and Azores for Portugal and Crete for Greece) which represent around 20% of the EU market. Taking these elements into account implies that the Commission will not be able to negotiate customs duty that is too low. The level of customs duty should, the Commission states, be equivalent to the level of protection that exists today.
According to some sources, the US multinational Chiquita, which exports "dollar bananas" (those produced in Latin American countries such as Ecuador, Costa-Rica, Colombia, Nicaragua and Venezuela), hope to maintain the current customs duty of 75 euros per tonne, and recalls that the EU, in compliance with its commitments taken at the WTO in 2001, must ensure that market access in favour of third countries is maintained. If the level of customs duties exceeded 75 euros/tonne, market access for "dollar bananas" could be reduced by half according to studies cited by such sources. On the other hand, producer countries of African bananas call for customs duty of at least 150 euros/tonne to ensure the branch survives.
The Commission is to begin talks at the WTO as soon as it has received the mandate from the Member States although such talks promise to be long and difficult.