. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/106 
G/C/45 31 May 2006 
 
(06-2607) 
General Council 
Council for Trade in Goods Original:   English 
 
 
 
THE BANANA ISSUE IN A NUTSHELL 
 
Communication from Colombia  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 29 May 200 6, has been received from the delegation of 
Colombia.   
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Tariff Only Regime Enlargement of the European 
Union Doha Round 
 
The EC has not complied with its obligation under the Annex to the Doha waiver of switching 
to a bananas tariff-only regime. 
Instead, the EC has put in place a mixed import regime: a) MFN tariff and b) preferential tariff- rate quota  Since 1 May 2004 the banana 
import regime for some of the 10 new members of the 
European Union became more 
restricted as a result of their accession.  The European Union has 
notified its intention to replace its concessions on item 
08030019 (bananas) included in 
Schedule CXL of the European Communities annexed to the General Agreement with a bound duty of 230 €/ton.  
Since 1 January 2006 there is a new MFN tariff of 176 
€/ton  
and a preferential tariff-rate 
quota of 775,000 tons with in-
tariff rate of 0% for bananas of ACP origin.   Prior to their accession to the 
European Union, the tariff rate for bananas in Poland, Hungary, 
and Czech Republic was zero. 
After their accession the tariff rate increased to 75 €/ton and imports were subject to import licenses   The Arbitrator found that 
neither a tariff of 230 €/ton nor a tariff of 187 €/ton would 
result in at least maintaining 
total market access for MFN banana suppliers. 
The waiver decision with respect to Article I:1 of the GATT 1994 contained in the 
Doha waiver, has ceased to 
apply to bananas as from 1 January 2006  The EC has recognized 
negotiation rights for a number of MFN suppliers.   MFN banana suppliers need 
certainty as to what is the EC bound rate in order to be able to 
assess the impact that 
modalities of negotiation would have on bananas. WT/GC/106 
G/C/45 Page 2 
 
 
  Tariff Only Regime Enlargement of the European 
Union Doha Round 
 
The waiver decision with respect to Articles XIII:1 and XIII:2 of the GATT 1994 has expired by its own terms on 31 December 2005. According to the EC the 
obligation derived from the Annex to the Doha waiver and negotiations pursuant Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994 
amounts to the same process.  To comply with the Arbitrator’s 
findings, the bound rate for bananas should not be greater than 187 €/ton. 
Application of a tariff of 176 €/ton to imports of MFN bananas is inconsistent with 
Article II:1 of the GATT 1994 
because it exceeds the duties set forth under heading 0803 00 19 of the EC’s Schedule of Concessions. 
 The EC claims that  
autonomous quota increases in 2004 and 2005 were put in place 
as compensation for those years, 
and that the increase of MFN tariff for bananas from 75 €/ton to 176 €/ton is the compensation for 2006 on. 
 Bananas might be a sensitive 
product to the EU because of its domestic production and the 
agreements with ACP countries. 
Norway is chairing meetings 
between some interested parties and the EC in order to consider 
the results of the data collection 
that flow from the Monitoring system put in place by the EC. The United States and the 
European Union signed an enlargement compensation 
agreement that, among others, 
gives the United States access to new country-specific tariff-rate quotas for a broad range of agricultural products.  
  
Some interested parties have 
requested consultations with the EC pursuant to Article 21 of the 
DSU. Other interested parties 
are willing to challenge the current EC banana import regime before the DSU. Negotiation is a better 
alternative. 
   
 
 
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