BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) top banana export countries sought on Friday 500 million euros ($694 million) in compensation from the European Union as part of a deal to end the world's longest-running trade dispute.
In the run-up to the proposed changes to the regime, Banana Link campaigned with Caribbean community groups, the Fairtrade Foundation, CAFOD, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes and shopworkers' union Usdaw, to Support Caribbean Bananas.
For nearly ten years from 1996 Banana Link collaborated with partners in London and Brighton to produce a carnival troupe and float at
Notting Hill Carnival to raise awareness of Fairtrade and Caribbean
bananas.
The banana companies in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States maybe forced out of business following the European Union’s decision to negotiate a Free Trade agreement (FTA) with Central American countries in what the ACP Group describes as on “too generous” terms.
One of the major sideshows at the Doha round negotiations in Geneva that collapsed in stalemate at the end of July was the latest round in the "banana wars." Latin American banana exporters have long argued that their significantly cheaper bananas have faced unfair barriers in European markets because of a special trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and its former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
WINFA is continuing its lobbying efforts on behalf of banana farmers in the Windward Islands. On Friday, Feb. 20, WINFA Coordinator, Mr. Renwick Rose, visited the Scottish offices of the European Parliament, in Edinburgh.
Sir Ronald Sanders, a business executive and former Caribbean diplomat, takes a critical look at the EPA between the EU and the Caribbean and calls on Caribbean countries to stop being taken for a ride by the EU.
by Renwick Rose, Co-ordinator, WINFA, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Banana farmers in the Eastern Caribbean have been making positive strides in their bid to have a greater say in the decision-making in their industry and as a result to be able to ensure greater returns to the farmers.
Following a series of devastating hurricanes in recent years, the Jamaican government and industry has decided to stop exporting and focus on the development of the thriving national market, including for chips.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding painted a bleak picture of the future of the banana industry last Tuesday, during a sitting of the House of Representatives.
For further information about the implications of the reform of the EU banana import regime for banana production in the Windward Islands please visit www.bananasontheline.com - the official website of the Special Envoy of the islands of Dominica, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines to the European Union for Bananas.
The ACP countries and the EU are currently engaged in the process of negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These will aim to replace the Cotonou Agreement when the current WTO Waiver, which legitimises this trade agreement, expires in December 2007.
From 1st January 2006, the quotas controlling volumes of "third country" (almost exclusively Latin American) bananas coming into the EU-25 have been eliminated. Import licences have been removed and importers are now only required to pay a 176 euro/tonne** tariff plus a small guarantee of 15 euros/tonne.
Hurricane Dean has devastated the Caribbean banana industry. In the Windward Islands it is estimated that 60-65% of the banana crop on St. Lucia has been destroyed and 90-100% on Dominica. The small family farmers affected will not have incomes until their crops grow back in around six months time. WINFA, the Caribbean Farmers Association, is working in solidarity with farmers to help restructure the industry.
The Windward Islands Farmers' Association (WINFA) is a confederation of small farmers' organisations supporting small scale farmers in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and Martinique.
Choosing Fairtrade bananas has a direct and positive impact on the
lives of producers, workers and their communities.
Banana Link is a British based NGO campaigning for a socially just, environmentally sound and economically viable international banana trade. 
The Windward Islands Farmers' Association (WINFA) is a confederation of small farmers' organisations supporting small scale farmers in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and Martinique.