EU to Drop Duties on Bananas and Other Tropical Fruit Products

An end to the world’s longest-running trade dispute is reportedly drawing near. The European Union (EU), which purportedly started the “banana wars” by imposing higher duties on tropical fruits from Latin America in the early 1990s to favor former British and French colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions, is apparently poised to enter an agreement that would reduce its banana tariffs over the next seven years thus putting growers around the world on an equal footing. The United States is also apparently expected to adopt the same terms, so shoppers could soon be facing lower prices for tropical fruits and for dozens of other tropical products if the proposed settlement provides a boost to the upcoming Doha round of world trade negotiations. See The New York Times, November 17, 2009.