WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/DS27/26
17 September 1998
(98-3545)
Original:  English
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES - REGIME FOR THE IMPORTATION,
SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF BANANAS
Request to Join Consultations
Communication from Saint Lucia
The following communication, dated 9 September 1998, from the Permanent Mission of
Saint Lucia to the Permanent Delegation of the European Commission, the Permanent Missions of
Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States and to the Dispute Settlement Body,  iscirculated pursuant to the procedure pr ovided for under Article 21.5 of the DSU.
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I refer to the request for consultations by Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the
United States circulated by the World Trade Organization on 31 August 1998 in WT/DS27/18.
The Government of St. Lucia hereby requests, pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 11 of the
Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing th e Settlement of Disputes, to be joined in the
above requested consultations.
The share of banana exports in the total exports of St. Lucia in 1995 amounted to 61.5 per
cent.  Any substantial fall in returns from bananas would have far reaching and negative consequences
for the economy of St. Lucia.  The only market in which bananas from St. Lucia are marketed is the
EC and any modifications to the EC banana regime which significantly reduce the provisions in
favour of St. Lucia would jeopardize our access to our sole export market and give rise to a disastroussituation and economic collapse would seem inevitable.
The request for consultations specifically requests consultations on the WTO Waiver granted
for the Lomé Convention and on the provisions in relation to tariff reductions for traditional and non-
traditional ACP bananas.  St. Lucia is a signator y to the fourth ACP/EC Lomé Convention and is one
of the beneficiaries of the Protocol 5 on bananas.  Therefore, St. Lucia has unquestionably a
"substantial trade interest" and indeed a vital interest, in the proposed consultations, within the
meaning of Article 4, paragraph 11 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the
Settlement of Disputes.
The Government of St. Lucia must express its concern at the statement in the request for
consultations that such consultations constitute "unnecessary, hollow procedural steps that will
needlessly consume time and resources."  Consultations are an essential procedural requirement prior
to a request for a Panel.  It is disquieting that the requesting parties would consider such procedural
steps to be "hollow",  in particular where  such consultations also confer rights on third parties such as
./.WT/DS27/26
Page 2
St. Lucia and others which are signatories to th e Lomé Convention.  We must express our concern
therefore that consultations will be carried out in the proper spirit of the DSU in accordance with the
requirements of Article 4.1 and 4.2.
We must assume that the penultimate paragraph of the letter to the EU dated 18 August in
which the complainants ask for dates during the next  "week or two" to engage in consultations was an
oversight.  Clearly, to have carried out and completed consultations prior to the date on which third
parties are entitled to request to be joined in those consultations would have been a substantial breach
of the spirit and terms of the DSU to which each of these countries is a signatory.
While we do not necessarily accept that the complainants are entitled to seek consultations on
all of the issues listed in the request for consultations, without prejudice to this, we request to bejoined in the consultations on each and everyone of the issues enumerated therein.
We look forward to a prompt response from the parties confirming their acceptance of
St. Lucia's substantial interest in these consultations.
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