Banana growers feel pressure on W.T.O. ruling
On yesterday’s broadcast we reported the optimism expressed over the discovery of oil in the Cayo District. That was good news that may or may not translate into economic benefits for Belize. Hopefully it will because on the same day the drillers found black gold, the market for what was once called green gold was looking mighty shaky. I’m talking about bananas. On Monday a three-member panel of the World Trade Organisation ruled against the European Union, saying that a two hundred and thirty Euro per ton E.U. tariff on non-A.C.P. bananas was too high and therefore illegal under W.T.O. rules. The E.U. had recommended the two hundred and thirty Euro duty against the wishes of the African Caribbean and Pacific producers–including Belize–who thought it should have been at least two hundred and seventy-five Euros. The European Union now has ten days to come up with a new plan, one which will undoubtedly be lower than two hundred and thirty. Today News Five’s Stewart Krohn spoke with Zaid Flores, General Manager of the Banana Growers Association, who said that in terms of competition, the Latin Americans already have a huge advantage.
Zaid Flores, Gen. Mgr., Banana Growers Association
?Our highest recorded production to date has been four point three million boxes. I mean, Costa Rica last year had a worst year and they were like ninety million boxes. Ecuador?s worst year was last year at a hundred and twenty-five million. So these are the differences in economies that we?re looking at when we?re trying to compare these industries. We have no chance in trying to compete with an Ecuador, but within the A.C.P.?we?re one of the stronger member countries within the A.C.P.?we have been able to reduce our cost and maximise our production yields, and this is still the two goals for the industry, but there?s only so much we can do.?
Flores added that another key factor, in addition to the tariff level, is the strength of the Euro. If that currency remains high against the U.S. dollar, Belizean growers could probably survive at a lower tariff rate, but a major drop in the Euro’s value would put the industry under great stress. There are only nine Belizean banana growers, operating twenty-two farms covering six thousand acres. In 2004 they exported eighty thousand tons of fruit worth around twenty-five million U.S. dollars.
