Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:326
Date: 1997-06-26
Language of the case: Italian
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP);Agriculture and Fisheries;External relations;Fruit and vegetables;Commercial policy;Bananas
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgmen t 
1. International agreements — Fourth ACP-EEC Lomé Convention — Provisions concerning 
trade cooperation — General trade arrangements — Difference in the treatment of tradi­
tional and non-traditional ACP banana imports — Whether Uwful 
(Fourth ACP-EEC Lomé Convention of 15 December 1989, Art. 168 and Protocol 5; Council 
Regulation No 404/93) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-369/95 
2. Agriculture — Common organization of the markets — Bananas — Import arrangements — 
Need to obtain an import licence and to lodge a security — Breach of the principle of pro­
portionality — None — Detailed rules — Compatibility with the Fourth ACP-EEC Lomé 
Convention and the basic regulation 
(Fourth ACP-EEC Lomé Convention of 15 December 1989; Council Regulation No 404/93, 
Art. 17; Commission ReguUtion No 1442/93, Art. 14(2)) 
1. 'With respect to the establishment of a tar­
iff quota, the import into the Community 
of bananas from ACP States falls under 
Article 168(2)(a)(ii) of the Fourth ACP-
EEC Lomé Convention, Protocol 5 con­
cerning bananas annexed to the Conven­
tion and Annexes LXXIV and LXXV 
relating to that Protocol. Pursuant to 
those provisions and in particular to the 
standstill clause introduced by Article 1 
of the Protocol, the Community's only 
obligation is to maintain the advantages, 
with respect to access of ACP bananas to 
the Community market, which the ACP 
States had before the Lomé Convention; 
accordingly, Regulation N o 404/93 was 
able, without infringing the Convention 
or the Protocol, to limit free access to the 
Community market by providing for a 
difference in the treatment of traditional 
and non-traditional ACP imports. 
2. Article 17 of Regulation N o 404/93, 
which subjects all imports of bananas into 
the Community to the requirement of an 
import licence issued by the Member 
States and which makes issue of those 
licences subject to the lodging of a secu­
rity guaranteeing compliance with the 
import commitment by the operator, does 
not infringe the principle of proportional­
ity. That provision must be regarded as an 
administrative measure in respect of tariff 
quotas that is indispensable for the moni­
toring of imports in a system of differing 
import arrangements and it does not go 
beyond what is necessary to attain the 
desired objective. 
The detailed rules for issuing import 
licences set out in Article 14(2) of Regu­
lation N o 1442/93, providing for the divi­
sion of the procedure relating to the 
import of bananas into four quarters but 
without that entailing any definitive loss 
of operators' rights, did not introduce 
arrangements that were too restrictive in 
relation to the Fourth ACP-EEC Lomé 
Convention and the basic regulation, 
since such a division falls within the 
Commission's power to modify the con­
ditions of access of bananas originating in 
third countries to the Community with­
out, however, restricting them. 
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