Dennie Quill, Contributor

I can still hear the words of former prime minister, Hugh Shearer, ringing in my ears. He had long seen the moves to erode the preferential access of Caribbean bananas to European markets which had been granted to former colonies in African, Caribbean and Pacific member countries.

He was speaking at a time when Europe maintained an import regime, including quotas and tariffs, that allowed preferential access to banana exports from African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

However, Europe soon found it difficult to sustain the preferential treatment reserved for members of the 71 (ACP) states. From 1972 onwards, there have been challenges mounted by powerful interests.

Warnings

The banana regime was to undergo a series of changes. Each change threatened to erode the ACP's preferential access. Shearer never missed an opportunity to speak about the need to prepare for the end of preferential treatment.

He urged diversification. He called for increased productivity and suggested ways to deal with the growing competitive challenges.

His many warnings about preparedness appear to have gone unheeded. How else can one explain last week's emergency meeting of banana interests called by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade?

The banana dispute has been a tedious and complex one. Recall that President Bill Clinton visited the region in 1997 to talk about bananas. Apparently, he expected to ride roughshod over the leaders of these tiny islands.

He was reported to have remarked after a closed door session in Barbados, 'those guys were awesome'. One observer interpreted that to mean he was impressed with the eloquence of Caribbean leaders.

Powerful forces

At the end of the day, Caribbean people were stunned that prosperous America, a country that does not even grow bananas, had become involved in the banana war between the Caribbean and Latin America.

For many countries in the region, banana was the life-blood of their economy, as it provided employment and earned foreign exchange.

It soon emerged that Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte, all major US corporations that were growing huge acreages of bananas in South and Central America, had complained loudly to the Clinton administration that EU quotas and licensing regime had led to a reduction in their profits.

The Clinton administration took the case to the World Trade Organisation and, even before a decision was made, started flexing its own muscles by slapping 100 per cent tariffs on a range of European imports. The tariffs amounted to US$250 million, the sum, banana multinationals say they lost because of preferential treatment given Caribbean countries. America says it was protecting its interests.

It was clear nearly a decade ago that the Caribbean was fighting against powerful forces. Caribbean producers account for a measly seven per cent of banana exports to Europe and the multinationals feel no shame in boxing this out of their mouths. Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte want it all.

Getting shafted

The negative ruling by the WTO in 2000 gave the Caribbean a good indication of how small, poor nations will fare in this globalised world. Poor countries short of leverage on the world trading stage will always get shafted.

But even after the EU cut its tariff on bananas to €176 per ton, while preserving duty-free access for ACP countries, Latin America said it was not enough.

We knew then that the end was near. I believe some small farmers took heed and decided to invest in a more lucrative crop. The irony is that this crop is headed straight for the US market and is far more potent than the innocent banana fruit.

Years of challenges to the EU banana import policy appears to have come to an end and tariffs to non-ACP countries will be reduced by 35 per cent over the next seven years or something like that.

We were warned. Did industry players try to find solutions? Did they undertake studies in other markets to determine the feasibility of exporting bananas to, say, China?

Did they try to get members of the diaspora to boycott Latin American bananas in favour of Caribbean-grown fruit?

The Caribbean's misery over the banana dispute is part of the tale of how wealthy nations like America that preach free trade out of one side of its mouth will become wildly protective when its corporations appear to be threatened.

Send feedback to denniequill@hotmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com.