BARBADOS, CMC:
CARIBBEAN BANANA exporting countries have expressed "deep disappointment" at the revised banana tariff proposal announced earlier this week by the European Commission (EC).
The EC said it was proposing a tariff of euro 187 (J$14,212) per tonne on third country or most favoured nation (MFN) banana imports under a "tariff only" system, to come into effect as of January 1, 2006.
But Dominica's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Labour, Charles Savarin, said
he was disappointed with the proposal.
Citing a dramatic decline in Dominica's current banana exports to the European market by nearly 75 per cent, Savarin said the revised tariff proposal would only serve to exacerbate the island's fiscal and economic difficulties, making economic recovery that much harder.
"Compared to other Caribbean banana-producing countries, Dominica has historically been the most dependent on banana exports. The significant decline in those exports in recent years has had a devastating effect on Dominica's economy," he said.
THREATS TO SURVIVAL
The minister said that "while the euro 230 (J$17,480) per tonne proposal made public some months ago posed a difficulty for the Dominican banana industry, the euro 187 (J$14,212) proposal seriously threatens the survival of the industry."
The revised tariff proposal places the region's banana industry in a precarious and vulnerable position. Industry groups across the region are sounding the alarm over the proposal's "crippling effects" on the region's banana industry, should it be implemented.
The Barbados-based Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM), which coordinates the region's negotiations at the international level, said while the proposed revised EC tariff is subject to a process of consultation with MFN suppliers, the level of the tariff has evoked surprise in the region.
It sees it as a "significant reduction" from the initially proposed figure of euro 230 (J$17,480) per tonne.
"The Caribbean had already indicated that at that level the competitiveness of its banana industry would be severely challenged," it added.
