RESOLUTION(1)

on the WTO millennium round of negotiations with special reference to ACP bananas

The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,

- meeting in Strasbourg (France) from 29 March to 1 April 1999,

- recalling its previous resolutions on bananas, particularly the resolution adopted at the 26th Session, held in Port Louis (Mauritius) from 20 to 23 April 1998,

- recalling the resolution on bananas adopted at the 68th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers, held in Brussels (Belgium) from 28 to 29 September 1998,

A. recalling the Marrakesh agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation, in particular the preamble in which the parties to the agreement recognised, inter alia, that their relations in the field of trade and economic endeavour should be conducted with a view to raising standards of living etc. in accordance with the objective of sustainable development, while seeking to protect and preserve the environment,

B. recalling also that the parties agreed that there was a need for positive efforts designed to ensure that developing countries, and especially the least developed among them, secured a share in growth in international trade commensurate with the needs of their economic development,

C. whereas under the forthcoming review it is likely that there will be amendments to the Agreement on Agriculture and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures which could have an impact on preferential trading in bananas,

D. whereas the Lomé Convention was granted a waiver in the WTO and that the Banana Protocol is a legal agreement under that international convention,

E. noting that the ACP banana-producing States are net food importing, developing, least-developed, landlocked or island states with particular economic and social difficulties, which rely on revenue from banana exports for their socio-economic development,

F. noting also that the parties to the WTO agreement, including the US, while committing themselves to trade liberalisation, have also agreed to address the special needs of developing countries, and, in this regard, subscribed to the principle of special and differential treatment,

G. recalling the EU's commitment under the Lomé IV Convention to safeguarding access for the ACP banana producers their traditional markets and to improving the conditions under which ACP fruit is produced and marketed,

H. whereas the EU banana regime enacted by Regulation (EC) No 404/93 was intended to ensure that the EU's commitment to the ACP banana-producing States and EU banana-producing regions was honoured under the Common Organisation of the Market (COM) in bananas and to facilitate restructuring of the industries to increase efficiency,

I. whereas, following a decision by the WTO, the European Union amended its COM in the banana sector in order to comply with the recommendations made by the dispute settlement body, which declared certain aspects of the Community import regime to be incompatible with the rules of international trade,

J. whereas, immediately following the announcement of the new Community regime (which came into force on 1 January 1999), the USA argued that the regime did not comply with WTO rules and declared its intention to impose sanctions on the European Union unilaterally,

K. whereas the USA is not itself a banana producer and whereas its only interests are through the multinationals which dominate the sector (Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte),

L. whereas a WTO panel is responsible for ruling on the validity of the new European banana import regime and on the legality of the sanctions announced by the US Government,

M. strongly condemning the US decision to impose, without waiting for the verdict of the panel, unilateral sanctions on the European Union which are unlawful, economically unjustified and politically unacceptable,

N. whereas the pursuit of the unilateralist approach adopted by the USA would weaken the international trading system and seriously jeopardise the prospects for the next round of trade negotiations (the Millennium Round), which is due to begin next November in Seattle,

1. Expresses the greatest concern regarding the situation of ACP and European banana producers and, more generally, regarding the future of the sector;

2. Calls on the Council of the European Union to:

i. continue, whatever the outcome of the WTO panel, to honour its commitment to the ACP and the European producers by guaranteeing that the advantages in, and access to, EU market for ACP and European bananas are maintained;

ii. extend this commitment beyond the current regime to provide adequate time for the States and regions concerned to restructure their economies and adapt to changing circumstances;

iii. ensure that the preferences granted to the ACP countries under the Lomé Convention are not further eroded by any review of the multilateral trading agreements;

iv. strongly resist at the highest level the illegal action being taken by the US to force the dismantling of the banana regime and ensure that the international community is fully aware of the implications of such action;

v. not to withdraw its complaint, irrespective of the outcome of the current dispute, so that it can be formally established that US law does not comply with the rules of the international trade system to which the USA has subscribed and, retrospectively, that the sanctions adopted on the basis of that law are illegal;

vi. urge the US to honour its commitment in the WTO and return to the established multilateral procedures for resolving the dispute;

vii. ensure that adequate resources are provided under a technical and financial assistance programme to facilitate the restructuring of ACP industries;

3. Urges the Commission and the Council to approach the Millennium Round with the firm intention of securing recognition for the Union's right to honour the commitments which it has made in connection with Community preference and ACP preference;

4. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission, the WTO Director-General, the US Congress and the US Government.

(1) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 1 April 1999 in Strasbourg (France).