The Agriculture Minister Miguel Arias Cañete, will meet next Tuesday with a delegation from the Association of
European Banana Producers(APEB), which will forward the need for Brussels to increase the funds supporting the banana Community.
The APEB and Arias Cañete will discuss the progress of the European banana dossier, as well as the impact of the agreements signed by the European Union (EU) with Latin American countries, both multilateral and bilateral, on the traditional banana's community market. These involve, as it was recalled, an annual tariff decrease until it reaches the level of 75 Euro per tone.
The Canary Islands, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Madeira producers, all of them APEB members, have asked the EU for an increase of 30 million Euro to the financial component of the Posei aid program for the banana production; the goal is to "try to minimize the serious impact that the European arrangements are having."
"We continue to insist that, before having signed these agreements with Latin American countries, we should have analyzed what would be the impact on Community production, to avoid putting the production in a critical situation. The unemployment rate in our respective regions, continued the APEB in their statement- is around 30% of the workforce, and the important economic and social role of the banana sub-sector is beyond all doubt."
The meeting with Minister of Agriculture will also serve to coordinate with the new people responsible for the department, the strategy that the association has been developing with the governments of France and Portugal.
Fuent: Eldia