Caribbean Report 26-05-1997

Abstract

A banana official from Guadeloupe comments on the importance of banana production to the country. However, these were the echoes across the islands when a fact finding mission of European MPs visited the Eastern Caribbean earlier this month. The Euro MPs meetings were fruitful as they were able to hear from the banana growers themselves who identified their problems. The mission coincided with the Barbados Summit between President Bill Clinton and Caricom Heads of Government. The matter of a WTO ruling against the EU’s banana import regime prompted by US featured at the Summit. However, President Bill Clinton did not give Caribbean leaders much hope over their banana concerns. President Clinton said that in pursuing the winning of our case at the World Trade Organisation our target was a discriminatory European system not the Caribbean nations. Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent’s Prime Ministers commented on President Clinton’s speech. The EU would make an appeal against the WTO ruling. Next, Executive Director of the European Council for Europe, David Jessop and Gordon Myers, the European Representative of the Caribbean Bananas Exporters Association are interviewed on the banana issue with the World Trade Organisation. Next, in a debate in Strasburg, the Commissioner Franz Fischler says the Commission wants to investigate the implication of an appeal to the WTO ruling before taking further action. Finally, OECS Ambassador Edwin Laurent has the last word on ACP cooperation and the Caribbean stand on bananas.