ACP Voices Opposition To EC Banana Tariff Proposals

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

15 April 2009

The European Commission has met resistance once again in the dispute over Latin American banana import tariffs. The Commission’s proposal would reduce the current EUR176/tonne tariff to as low as EUR136 by 2011 and EUR114 by 2016. African, Caribbean and Pacific countries are bargaining with the Commission to implement its plans over a longer timescale to allow producers time to adjust.

ACP countries, who have enjoyed duty-free access to the EU banana market for years, are asking that Europe slow down its plans to bring in market liberalisation in order to mitigate the short-term effects on their economies.

Lobbying groups fear that Latin America producers, who already account for 80% of the EU market, would flood EU economies with cheap produce and harm the industry in ACP countries.

Several groups have asked the European Commission to enforce a four-year moratorium on the import duty to allow for the conclusion of the Doha round and allow them time to adjust to the change. The Commission, in response to ACP country pleas, has begun negotiations into a possible compromise; amongst the EC’s proposals is a compensation scheme that would offset EUR100m of ACP suppliers' losses between 2010-2013.

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