EU struggles to help banana nations

09 September 1997

EU struggles to help banana nations

THE European Union (EU) is battling to shore up the economies of
the Windward Islands and other Caribbean banana-growing nations.

The EU banana
import regime grants special import quotas and tariffs to the mostly former
British and French colonies.

But the EU has lost its battle at appeal against the World Trade
Organisations panel, which ruled that the EU banana import regime violated free
trade rules.

The small states say they can no longer compete with the low-cost Latin
American producers. Their economies could face collapse if their European market
is cut off.