WTO takes up US complaint against EU's banana duties

(GENEVA) - The World Trade Organisation on Thursday agreed to rule on a US complaint against the European Union's banana import regime.

The US complaint lodged on June 29 was formally taken up by a meeting of the WTO's Disputes Settlement Body after the EU did not oppose the move, officials said.

The United States argued that EU import duties of 176 euros a tonne imposed on banana imports from Latin America harmed exports from major producer nations like Ecuador, Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua.

The WTO in March took up another complaint against Brussels by Ecuador, the largest banana importer into the European Union.

The EU described the formal US complaint as "unfortunate."

"The US move is even more regrettable taking into consideration that the US is not a producer or exporting country of bananas, so their interest in this case is more than questionable," the EU said in a statement to the meeting.

Latin American bananas represent four fifths of European imports, according to EU data.

The rest comes from developing nations in the African Caribbean and Pacific group (ACP) under a broader bilateral trade deal with Brussels which includes a quota system that allows them to import up to 775,000 tonnes of bananas free of duty.

Three of the largest producers, with plantations in Latin America, are US based multinationals: Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole.

EU sources said last month that the three, along with Boboa of Ecuador and Fyffes of Ireland were likely to face a probe by antitrust regulators on suspicion of forming an illegal cartel for five years.

The current EU banana import regime, which was introduced last year, was drawn up after the WTO in 2001 upheld a complaint by Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States.