The European Commission has told just-food that the EU’s defeat at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over market access for banana exports should soon become irrelevant.

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The senior official at the Commission’s trade directorate general claimed the WTO ruling will be superseded by liberalisation reforms being implemented for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) banana exporters.


The exporters are being offered zero duty and zero-quota free trade for their banana exports and only “one or two agreements” with African countries remain outstanding.


Ecuador has secured a WTO disputes panel ruling saying EU custom duties imposed from January 2006 on bananas from countries outside the ACP group break EU world trade law commitments.


The reforms will not apply to banana exporters outside the ACP group, who mostly come from Latin America.

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However, the EU official said the reforms will mean that the WTO ruling “will be against something that does not exist”.