The European Commission said on Monday it has proposed a tariff of 187 euros per ton on banana imports after the World Trade Organization (WTO) backed a complaint by Latin American exporters that a previous offer of 230 euros was too high.

The tariff is intended to replace the current regime at the beginning of 2006.

WTO arbitrators ruled on August 1 that a single tariff proposed earlier by the EU to replace the current, complex quota and customs regime for banana imports would not allow Latin American producers to keep up their market share in Europe.

"The commission's new proposal confirms Europe's commitment to ending this long-standing dispute. We have been careful to ensure that preferential access for our ACP partners is maintained. We hope that we are one step closer to resolving this issue," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said.

Under terms of the 2000 Cotonou agreement, African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group countries benefit from preferred, tariff-free access to the European market for bananas, leaving Latin American countries as the main banana producers that lack favorable access.

After a long-standing bananas dispute, the EU agreed in 2001 to move from a complex import system based on a combination of tariffs and quotas for Latin American countries' bananas to a regime solely based on a tariff by January 1, 2006.

Currently, Latin American exports to the EU are limited, with the duty per ton set at 75 euros for the first 2.7 million tons of exports, rising after that to 680 euros per ton.

Source: Xinhua