The New Banana Import Regime in the European Union: A Quantitative Assessment

The new banana import regime in the EU is a two-step process towards a tariff-only system that should enter into force no later than 1 January 2006. During the transitional period, 2001-2005, bananas will continue to be imported into the EU under a tariff-rate quota system. This paper provides an empirical evaluation of the new EU banana import policy. It focuses on the structure of EU imports from preferred and non-preferred suppliers in the transitional period, and it evaluates the tariff equivalent that should be applied in 2006 on EU imports from non-preferred suppliers. The most vulnerable African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, mainly the Caribbean states, would suffer from the new regulation unless they were to receive direct aid to make their banana production more competitive.