Bananas at the recent WTO round

The discord surrounding the EU's transition to a tariff-only banana import regime had the potential to become a serious obstacle to final consensus. At issue was the EUR 176 per tonne tariff due to enter into force on 1 January 2006. Latin American banana producers claimed the tariff was too high to ensure, at a minimum, the maintenance of their present share of the EU's banana market, as required by an agreement concluded at the Doha Ministerial Conference in 2001.

The parties agreed to continue consultations under the 'good offices' of Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who served as facilitator of the conflict in Hong Kong. A statement read out by Mr Store at the closing plenary session specified that the interests of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries -– whose member states enjoy duty-free access to the EU -– would be taken into account in the consultations. While the WTO's Dispute Settlement Understanding encourages Members to use the 'good offices' of the Director-General or another mediator in order to find a mutually agreeable solution before resorting to litigation, the legal relationship between the banana consultation process and the WTO's dispute settlement system is not entirely clear.

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