Latijns-Amerikaanse landen betwisten nieuwe importtarieven voor bananen bij WTO (en)

Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and Guatemala requested yesterday arbitration at the WTO on the level of duty proposed by the EU in the new tariff-only system for the EU's import regime for bananas. While the EU regrets the decision of these WTO Members to request arbitration, it will defend its proposal before the arbitrator and remains open for constructive engagement with interested WTO Members.

Mariann Fischer Boel i, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development had stated, as regards the proposed new duty, "The Commission is fully committed to respect the terms of the agreement on bananas approved by consensus in Doha in 2001. These terms, which provide for the move to tariff-only by 1 January 2006 and allow recourse to independent arbitration on the level of the tariff, were explicitly requested by Latin American exporting countries. The EU banana import regime is changing but the level of protection is not increasing. The proposed new tariff is based on a methodology to calculate tariff equivalents enshrined in the WTO texts and on objective data. I believe this figure and methodology has allowed us to square the circle and safeguard the sometimes conflicting interests of our consumers, producers and trading partners".

The proposed new duty (230€/t) and the WTO methodology on which it is based have been discussed in depth with the four Latin American banana exporting countries which have the right to negotiate with the EU the modification of its banana import regime under GATT Article XXVIII rules and with other WTO members exporting to the EU on a MFN basis. The Commission is confident that the procedures of the WTO Waiver provide a good structure to resolve this issue.

BACKGROUND

In order to put an end to the long-running bananas dispute, the EC agreed with the United States and Ecuador in spring 2001 to move its quota-based import regime for bananas to a tariff-only regime by 2006. The EC started negotiations on this move in 2004. However, due in part to the failure of the Latin American banana-exporting countries to agree among themselves, these negotiations have thus far proven unsuccessful. The current most favoured nation (MFN) duty on bananas is 680€ per tonne. Under the import regime currently in place, bananas from MFN origins may be imported at a duty of 75€/t within a quota of 2,653,000 tonnes. The new tariff proposed by the EU and notified to the WTO on 31 January 2005 of 230€ per tonne for MFN suppliers - mostly in Latin America - is intended to replace as of 1 January 2006 the present regime based on tariff quotas.

Basing itself on methodology agreed by all WTO Members in the Uruguay Round (and enshrined in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture) the EU has calculated the proposed duty of € 230/t as being equivalent to the current regime (MFN duty of 680 €/t and a tariff rate quota with a duty of 75 €/t). By basing itself on this methodology, the EU has ensured the neutrality of the move to the tariff-only regime. Many Latin-American banana-exporting countries have urged a tariff of 75 €/t, a figure which disregards the fact that currently imports at a duty of 75 €/t are limited in quantity and that above that limit, a tariff of 680 €/t applies. On the other hand, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which have preferential access for their banana exports to the EU have called for a new single tariff of 275€/t.

In the event that the EC and its partners failed to reach agreement on the level of the tariff, the WTO Waiver for the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and ACP countries, agreed in Doha by all WTO members, foresaw the possibility for WTO members exporting bananas to the EU on a most favoured nation basis to ask for arbitration on the level of the proposed duty.

The arbitrator is to be appointed following agreement between the parties or by the Director General of the WTO within 30 days of the arbitration request. The arbitration process does not preclude constructive engagement by all parties concerned.

Once appointed, the arbitrator will have 90 days to issue his award. The EU will explain to the arbitrator the methodology which has led to this proposed duty, which preserves the current level of market access for WTO members exporting bananas to the EU under the WTO's most favoured nation conditions.