CTA, http://agritrade.cta.int/, November 2007
This executive brief summarises the EU banana regime and its scope in the light of the September 2006 EU banana-sector reforms which saw the incorporation of the sector into the single farm-payment scheme. It then reviews the implications of the reforms and WTO-induced import-regime changes for EU and ACP producers, including the impact on the relative shares of ACP and non-ACP suppliers. It reviews the scope and likely impact of the EC’s April 2007 offer of duty-free, quota-free market access for bananas, and closes by reviewing the experience under the EU’s programme of support for banana-sector restructuring. In undertaking this review it highlights: the differential impact of reforms and changes in import regime on EU and ACP banana producers in the light of the different levels of support extended; the lessons which need to be learned from different restructuring programme experiences; the factors other than changes in the EU import regime which impact on the market share of ACP and non-ACP banana suppliers; and the importance of developing production to serve increasingly differentiated markets, so as to maximise financial returns to the sector (notably with regard to ‘fair trade’ and organic bananas).
Document (EN): Agritrade_Executive brief_Bananas_2007.pdfAuthor(s): Agritrade