Poor banana countries oppose EU trade deal

GENEVA: Poor banana-producing countries accused the EU on Tuesday of sacrificing their interests by doing a deal with Latin American countries on banana tariffs, in a bid to get global trade talks moving.

"The EU is pushing for this deal to show that progress is being made in removing obstacles to the conclusion of the Doha Round," said Gerhard Otmar Hiwat, Suriname ambassador in Brussels, who is chairing the group of banana-producing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).

"But we feel that we have been sacrificed for the sake of progress towards a deal," he said.

Member states of the World Trade Organisation have been trying since 2001 to forge a global trade pact under the Doha Round of negotiations.

The long-running dispute over the banana tariffs imposed by Brussels on Latin American countries and the tariff-free treatment of banana imports from mostly poor former European colonies in the ACP region, has been integrated into Doha negotiations.

The Doha talks have largely stalled since July 2008, but diplomats in Geneva said last week that a deal on bananas was in sight after Latin American banana producing countries agreed to an EU offer to cut the tariffs.

All that stands in the way of an end to the bananas dispute is an agreement between Brussels and ACP countries on how they could be compensated for the competitive advantage that would be eroded once Latin American bananas benefit from lower tariffs.

According to an internal European Commission memo, ACP countries would be paid up to 190 million euros (284 million dollars) over four years to help them cope with the tariff changes.

But ACP countries are "not satisfied," said Hiwat, noting that the Latin American deal is "more far-reaching than we think is needed at the moment."

In particular, the tariff cuts were too deep, he added.

ACP banana producers are also asking for financial aid of 250 million euros to cope with the changes.

Hiwat said the current EU-Latin American agreement would not benefit poorer states. "It is not a development deal because some developing countries are being sacrificed for the sake of the round," he added.