Brussels, 12/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - According to South American diplomatic sources at the WTO, the Latin American banana-producing countries are believed to have reached a consensus to agree to the EU's proposal to reduce its import taxes on bananas in three stages, over 7-10 years, from 176 euros to 114 euros per tonne. The Latin American partners, who wish to see an agreement in place before the ministerial meeting of the WTO to be held in Geneva at the end of November, have not, the other hand, agreed on how long each stage should last and the total reduction of taxes each year. The dispute between the EU and the Latin American producer countries has been at deadlock since the breakdown of the agreement concluded in Geneva in July 2008, which provided for the gradual reduction of taxes from 176 euros a tonne currently to 114 euros in 2016, the EU having created a link between its implementation and the conclusion of the Doha negotiations. Then, in February of this year, the EU proposed a three-stage process to bring the taxes down to 114 euros, over a period extending until 2019 instead of 2016. (E.H./trans.fl)