Business | Economy
WTO edges towards crucial deal
African and Caribbean countries came under pressure yesterday to reach a deal on bananas and remove a major obstacle to efforts to rescue global trade talks.
- Reuters
- Published: 21:44 July 27, 2008
- European Union Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Danish Mariann Fischer Boel leaves the WTO after the green room, during the fifth day of the World Trade Organisation ministerial summit on trade liberalisation talks, at the WTO headquarters, in Geneva.
- Image Credit: EPA
Geneva: African and Caribbean countries came under pressure yesterday to reach a deal on bananas and remove a major obstacle to efforts to rescue global trade talks.
The chances of a deal on the core areas of farm and industrial goods in make-or-break talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were delicately poised as rich and poor nations examined proposals for real new export opportunities.
The European Union and Latin American banana producers agreed early on Sunday to cut the EU's import duty to 114 euros ($179) a tonne by 2016 after an initial cut to 148 euros in 2009 from 176 euros now, people familiar with the fruit talks said.
Access to rich markets
But it must still be approved by former European colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) as well as EU member states such as France and Spain, whose farmers in the Caribbean territories and the Canary Islands also grow bananas.
A banana deal would settle one of the world's oldest trade disputes and is key to any breakthrough in the WTO's Doha round of talks on a new agreement to open up world trade, potentially giving a boost to the global economy.
The WTO talks began last Monday and are likely to run into the middle of the coming week.
Under Doha's agriculture proposals, tropical produce from Latin America would have faster, steeper tariff cuts than usual.
But ACP exports would see duties come down more slowly so they can retain some preferential access to rich markets.
The two sides have been working to tidy up overlaps of products on the tropical and preferential access lists but agreement would be impossible without a deal on bananas.
The fruit is a key export for many Latin American and ACP countries. Cameroon's banana industry is the biggest employer in the country after the public sector, and government officials say the industry helps prevent unrest in West Africa, which has been wracked by civil conflict in recent years.
Lowering the EU's import tariff further for their competitive Latin American rivals could devastate ACP banana output, they warn. ACP banana exports pay no EU duty.
"Bananas for us are a factor for political stability," said Luc Magloire Atangana Mbarga, trade minister of Cameroon.
Delegates were hoping to reach final agreement on bananas and other tropical products issues before ministers from 35 key WTO players resume talks late yesterday on the Doha deal.
Europe's trade chief warned that the road to a successful WTO deal is littered with "potholes" despite emerging signs of consensus as farm tariffs still divide rich and poor countries.
"There is no guarantee that the fragile package that began to emerge on Friday night will survive," European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson wrote in his daily blog on the trade talks here.
The Doha negotiations were launched in November 2001 to boost the world economy and help developing countries grow out of poverty.
Share this article
Related Articles
Popular in Business
-
XPRESS
Way to go this DSF
A fun-filled route to guide you to all the happening dos in town
Business Editor's choice
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
-
Air Arabia revamps its website
Upgraded site offers new features, accessible in range of languages
-
Dubai looks ahead to 2010 with new projects
Global visitor numbers up 4% on year and occupancy rates remain strong
