The EU has submitted a request for a second World Trade Organisation (WTO) arbitration on its proposal for a new import tariff for bananas from countries benefiting from Most Favoured Nation status.
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The Commission said it has analysed the award from the first arbitration. It is confident that its revised proposal for an import duty of €187/tonne (US$224.3) for MFN suppliers and a tariff quota of 775,000 tonnes at zero duty for bananas originating in ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries maintains market access for MFN suppliers and an equivalent level of preference for ACP suppliers as the current regime. The intention remains to have a tariff only system in place on 1 January 2006.
“The EU has carefully analysed the arbitration award, revised its proposal accordingly, and initiated consultations with our Latin American and ACP partners on this basis. Despite our efforts, we were not able to come to an agreement with our partners. Nor did they present an alternative proposal of their own. Time is now running out for the introduction of the tariff only regime by the beginning of next year. This is why we are requesting a second round of arbitration today. I still hope we can find a solution to this long-running dispute which will be acceptable to everyone,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.
In order to put an end to the long-standing banana dispute, the EU agreed with Ecuador and the United States in 2001 to move from a complex import system based on a combination of tariffs and quotas for MFN bananas to a regime solely based on a tariff by 1 January 2006.
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