Arbitrator's report on banana row to be moved for authorisation

New Delhi, Apr 7: The European Union (EU) said that it would take the World Trade Organisation (WTO) arbitrator's report on banana trade dispute with the United States to the general council for authorisation, UNI reported."To comply with the law, the United States must now in any event immediately end sanctions and the threat of sanctions on over half the trade currently subject to them,'' said a statement issued by EU vice-president Leon Brittan."It is, however, already clear from the arbitrator's report that the unilateral US decision currently in place against EU exports has been and remains largely illegal as it is set at a level well over double that determined by the arbitrator.'' The statement came after the United States received approval to begin imposing punitive tariffs on nearly $191.4 million of EU imports in a nasty trade war over bananas. Accompanying him is member of European Parliament Matthew Cocks who told that the US sanctions need to be reformulated to a lower level to become WTOcompatible. AP adds: Earlier, the US trade representative Charlene Barshefsky said in a statement: "We are pleased that the WTO arbitrators concur with our position that the EU banana regime is WTO-inconsistent and continues to damage the US economy.'' Peter Scher, America's top negotiator on agriculture matters, told reporters that the Clinton administration was satisfied with the WTO ruling even though it reduced the original $520 million estimate of annual damages incurred by US banana companies. He said that the US prevailed on every major point in contention.

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