PLANTATIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA .
73IN SO FAR AS UBC ' S OWN PRODUCTION DOES NOT MEET ITS REQUIREMENTS IT CAN OBTAIN SUPPLIES WITHOUT ANY DIFFICULTY FROM INDEPENDENT PLANTERS SINCE IT IS AN ESTABLISHED FACT THAT UNLESS CIRCUMSTANCES ARE EXCEPTIONAL THERE IS A PRODUCTION SURPLUS .
74FURTHERMORE SEVERAL INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS HAVE LINKS WITH UBC THROUGH CONTRACTS FOR THE GROWING OF BANANAS WHICH HAVE CAUSED THEM TO GROW THE VARIETIES OF BANANAS WHICH UBC HAS ADVISED THEM TO ADOPT .
75THE EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS WHICH COULD JEOPARDIZE SUPPLIES ARE GREATLY REDUCED BY THE FACT THAT THE PLANTATIONS ARE SPREAD OVER A WIDE GEOGRAPHIC AREA AND BY THE SELECTION OF VARIETIES NOT VERY SUSCEPTIBLE TO DISEASES .
76THIS SITUATION WAS BORN OUT BY THE WAY IN WHICH UBC WAS ABLE TO REACT TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF HURRICANE ' ' FIFI ' ' IN 1974 .
77AT THE PRODUCTION STAGE UBC THEREFORE KNOWS THAT IT CAN COMPLY WITH ALL THE REQUESTS WHICH IT RECEIVES .
78AT THE STAGE OF PACKAGING AND PRESENTATION ON ITS PREMISES UBC HAS AT ITS DISPOSAL FACTORIES , MANPOWER , PLANT AND MATERIAL WHICH ENABLE IT TO HANDLE THE GOODS INDEPENDENTLY .
79THE BANANAS ARE CARRIED FROM THE PLACE OF PRODUCTION TO THE PORT OF SHIPMENT BY ITS OWN MEANS OF TRANSPORT INCLUDING RAILWAYS .
80AT THE CARRIAGE BY SEA STAGE IT HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT UBC IS THE ONLY UNDERTAKING OF ITS KIND WHICH IS CAPABLE OF CARRYING TWO THIRDS OF ITS EXPORTS BY MEANS OF ITS OWN BANANA FLEET .
81THUS UBC KNOWS THAT IT IS ABLE TO TRANSPORT REGULARLY , WITHOUT RUNNING THE RISK OF ITS OWN SHIPS NOT BEING USED AND WHATEVER THE MARKET SITUATION MAY BE , TWO THIRDS OF ITS AVERAGE VOLUME OF SALES AND IS ALONE ABLE TO ENSURE THAT THREE REGULAR CONSIGNMENTS REACH EUROPE EACH WEEK , AND ALL THIS GUARANTEES IT COMMERCIAL STABILITY AND WELL BEING .
82IN THE FIELD OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND AS A RESULT OF CONTINUAL RESEARCH UBC KEEPS ON IMPROVING THE PRODUCTIVITY AND YIELD OF ITS PLANTATIONS BY IMPROVING THE DRAINING SYSTEM , MAKING GOOD SOIL DEFICIENCIES AND COMBATING EFFECTIVELY PLANT DISEASE .
83IT HAS PERFECTED NEW RIPENING METHODS IN WHICH ITS TECHNICIANS INSTRUCT THE DISTRIBUTOR/RIPENERS OF THE CHIQUITA BANANA .
84THAT IS ANOTHER FACTOR TO BE BORNE IN MIND WHEN CONSIDERING UBC ' S POSITION SINCE COMPETING FIRMS CANNOT DEVELOP RESEARCH AT A COMPARABLE LEVEL AND ARE IN THIS RESPECT AT A DISADVANTAGE COMPARED WITH THE APPLICANT .
85IT IS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT AT THE STAGE WHERE THE GOODS ARE GIVEN THE FINAL FINISH AND UNDERGO QUALITY CONTROL UBC NOT ONLY CONTROLS THE DISTRIBUTOR / RIPENERS WHICH ARE DIRECT CUSTOMERS BUT ALSO THOSE WHO WORK FOR THE ACCOUNT OF ITS IMPORTANT CUSTOMERS SUCH AS THE SCIPIO GROUP .
86EVEN IF THE OBJECT OF THE CLAUSE PROHIBITING THE SALE OF GREEN BANANAS WAS ONLY STRICT QUALITY CONTROL , IT IN FACT GIVES UBC ABSOLUTE CONTROL OF ALL TRADE IN ITS GOODS SO LONG AS