That is why a decision by the EU Farm Council in
December of 1992 attracted attention among bananaproducing nations. Up until the decision, different EU
countries had different policies regarding imports of bananas. While Germany, for example, had no restrictions
at all, countries such as the United Kingdom, France, and
Spain restricted their imports to favor those from their
current and former African, Caribbean, and Pacific
(ACP) colonies. (This preferential trading agreement is
known as the Lome Convention.) The decision called
for a quota of 2.2 million tons with a 20 percent tariff for
all banana imports from Latin America ($126 per ton),
rising to 170 percent for quantities over that limit
($1,150 per ton). Because Latin American exports to
Europe were approximately 2.7 million tons in 1992, the
quota has effectively cut almost 25 percent of the countries’ exports to the EU