Brussels, 09/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 8 March, in Geneva, the EU and several ACP countries called for deferral of Ecuador's request to set up a new WTO panel to settle the dispute over the banana trade (EUROPE 9378). Everything points to Ecuador's request, which challenges the validity of the new banana import regime set in place by the EU in 2006, being endorsed at the next meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), on 20 March. The WTO panel will, in principle, have six months in which to give its verdict.
During the 8 March meeting of the DSB, composed of 150 WTO members, Ecuador's complaint was supported by other Latin American “dollar banana” producing countries such as Colombia, Panama and Nicaragua. The United States, however, has major trading interests to defend as its multinationals have a foothold in Latin America. Washington is reported to have “cautiously noted” the concerns of the Latin American countries in this affair.
Ecuador considers that the Community banana import regime does not respect the WTO decisions which, on three separate occasions (during the years 1986 to 1990 and in the early 2000s), ruled against the EU. Quito stresses, figures in hand, that the market share held by its operators in the EU fell 8.3% between January-August 2005 and January-August 2006. Statistical data also show the fall in Panama's sales (-11.4%) and those of Honduras (-46.2%) over the same period. The market share of all ACP countries has progressed 7.4% (including +17.4% for Côte d'Ivoire, but declining for Cameroon). “Ecuador has been severely hit by the new banana import regime set in place by the European Union since 1 January 2006”, said Quito during the meeting. According to an AFP release, it called for “the EU's discriminatory measures to be abolished”. (lc)