WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/784 
15 December 2009 
 
 (09-6532) 
General Council 
17-18 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
 
 
GENEVA AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN BANANAS 
 
Communication from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, European Union, Guatemala, Honduras, 
Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 15 D ecember 2009, has been received from the 
Delegation of the European Union with the re quest that it be circulated to Members. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
15 December 2009 
 
Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas 
 
 1. This Agreement is concluded between the Eur opean Union (hereinafter "the EU") and Brazil, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, H onduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and 
Venezuela (hereinafter "the Latin American MF N banana suppliers") regarding the structure 
and operation of the EU trading regime for fr esh bananas, excluding plantains, classified 
under HS tariff line 0803.00.19 (hereinafter "b ananas") and the terms and conditions that 
apply thereto.  
 2. This Agreement is without prejudice to the WT O rights and obligations of all the signatories 
to this Agreement subject to the prov isions in paragraphs 3 to 8 below. 
 
3. The EU agrees to the following:  
(a)  Without prejudice to subparagraph (b) belo w, the EU shall apply tariffs for bananas 
not greater than the following:
1 
 
 - From the 15 December 2009 until 31 December 2010 148 €/mt   - 1 January 2011 143 €/mt  
 - 1 January 2012  136 €/mt 
  - 1 January 2013 132 €/mt 
                                                     
 
1 Upon signature of this Agreement,  the EU shall apply retroactively th e applicable tariff(s) specified in 
paragraph 3(a) for the period from the 15 December 2009 to the date of signature. Duties paid in excess of the amount stipulated in this provision shall be reimbursed by the competent customs authorities upon request. 
 WT/L/784 
Page 2  
 
   - 1 January 2014 127 €/mt 
  - 1 January 2015 122 €/mt   - 1 January 2016 117 €/mt 
 
 - 1 January 2017 114 €/mt 
 
(b)  If Doha Modalities
2 are not established by the 31 December 2013, the ensuing tariff 
cuts in paragraph 3(a) above will be de layed until Doha Modalities are established. 
Under no circumstances shall the delay extend beyond 31 December 2015. The 
applicable tariff rate during that period of delay shall be 132 €/mt. After the two year 
period expires, or immediately after D oha Modalities are established, whichever 
occurs first, the tariff rate sh all be 127€/mt. The ensuing tariffs for the next three years, 
as from 1 January of each year, shall be no greater than 122€/mt, 117€/mt and 
114€/mt, respectively.  
 (c) The EU shall maintain a MFN tariff-onl y regime for the importation of bananas.
3  
 4. (a)  The EU shall bind the tariff cuts provi ded in paragraph 3. To this effect this 
Agreement shall be incorporated into the EU's WTO Schedule by means of 
Certification
4 in accordance with the Decision of  26 March 1980 on Procedures for 
the Modification and Rectification of Sc hedules of Tariff Concessions (L/4962).   
 
(b)  Upon entry into force of this Agreemen t the EU shall communicate a draft Schedule 
on bananas incorporating the text of this  Agreement to the Director-General for 
Certification. 
 
(c)  Parties to this Agreement agree not to raise objections to the Certification of the 
modified Schedule, provided that this Agreement is correctly reflected in the 
notification.  
 
5. Upon Certification, the pending disputes WT/DS27; WT/DS361; WT/DS364; WT/DS16; 
WT/DS105; WT/DS158; WT/L/616; WT/L/625 and a ll claims filed to date by any and all 
Latin American MFN banana suppliers under th e procedures of Articles XXIV and XXVIII of 
the GATT 1994 with respect to the EU trading regime for bananas (including G/SECRET/22 item 0803.00.19 and G/SECRET/22/Add.1; G/ SECRET/20 and G/SECRET/20/Add.1; and 
G/SECRET/26) shall be settled
5. Within two weeks after Certification, the relevant parties to 
this Agreement shall jointly notif y the DSB that they have reach ed a mutually agreed solution 
through which they have agreed to end these disputes.6 
 
                                                      
2 Doha Modalities for the purpose of  this Agreement means that cons ensus has been reached in the 
Trade Negotiations Committee to pro ceed to scheduling in Agriculture and Non-Agricultural Market Access 
negotiations. 
3 This provision shall not be read to authorise non-ta riff measures on bananas that are inconsistent with 
the EU's obligations under the WTO Agreements. 
4 The date of Certification shall be the date at which the Director-Gen eral certifies that the 
modifications to the EU Schedule have become a Certification in accordance with the Decision of 26 March 1980 on Procedures for the Modification and Rectification of Schedules of tariff concessions (document 
reference WT/LET). 
5 The date of the settlement shall be the date of Certification (document reference WT/LET).  
6 The settlement of these disputes does not affect any party's right to initiate a new dispute under the 
DSU, or future rights under the procedures of Articles XXIV and XXVIII of the GATT 1994.  WT/L/784 
 Page 3 
 
 
  6. Without prejudice to their rights under the WTO Agreement including those derived from the 
disputes and claims identified in paragraph 5,  the Latin American MFN banana suppliers 
further undertake not to take any further acti on with respect to those disputes and claims 
referred to in para. 5 between the 15 December  2009 and Certification provided that the EU 
complies with paragraphs 3 and 4 (b) and (c).  
 
7. The Latin American MFN banana suppliers ag ree that this Agreement shall constitute the 
EU's final market access commitments for bananas fo r inclusion in the final results of the next 
multilateral market access negotiation for agricu lture products successfully concluded in the 
WTO (including the Doha Round).7 
 
8. (a)  This Agreement enters into force the first day of the month following that in which 
the last of the signatories has notified the Director-General of the completion of the 
procedures necessary for that purpose. Each signatory shall furnish a copy of the 
notification to the other signatories. 
 
(b)  Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), the signatories agree to provisionally apply 
paragraphs 3, 6 and 7 from the day of  signature of this Agreement.  
   
 
D a t e          S i g n e d ,           G e n e v a ,  S w i t z e r l a n d  
                                                     
 
7 If Certification has not been completed by the date of the conclusion of the next multilateral market 
access negotiation for agriculture produc ts in the WTO (including the Doha  Round), this Ag reement shall be 
incorporated into the EU's WTO Schedule on the date that the Schedule enters into force as part of the results of 
that negotiation. WT/L/784 
Page 4  
 
  Text initialled in Geneva on 15 December 2009 by the following: 
 For Brazil:  For Colombia: 
 
For Costa Rica:  For Ecuador:  
For the European Union: 
 For Guatemala:  For Honduras: 
 
For Mexico:  For Nicaragua:  For Panama: 
 
For Peru:  For Venezuela:  
 
__________