Trade in bananas: tariff rates

PURPOSE: following the Geneva Agreement on trade in bananas, to abolish the existing applied EU tariff rate for the importation of bananas by repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) No 306/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 on the tariff rates for bananas.

CONTENT: on 31 May 2010, the Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas between the European Union and Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela regarding the structure and operation of the Union’s trading regime for bananas of CN code 0803 00 19 was signed. After having been applied provisionally since its date of signature, the Agreement was approved by Council Decision 2011/194/EU.

In light of the new banana tariffs to be applied pursuant to the Geneva Agreement, this Regulation repeals Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 on the tariff rates for bananas which established the currently applied rate of EUR 176/tonne.

In accordance with the Agreement, the Union will gradually reduce its banana tariff from EUR 176/metric tonne to EUR 114/metric tonne. A first cut, which was applied retroactively from 15 December 2009, the date of initialling of the Agreement, reduced the tariff to EUR 148/metric tonne. The subsequent cuts are to apply in seven annual instalments with a possible delay of a maximum of two years if agreement on agriculture modalities in the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is delayed. The final tariff of EUR 114/metric tonne is to be reached on 1 January 2019 at the latest. The tariff reductions will be bound in the WTO at the moment of the certification of the EU banana schedule.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: this Regulation shall enter into force on the date of entry into force of the Agreement.