BRUSSELS (CMC) – African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries say financial resources promised by Europe to enable banana producing countries to remain competitive have not yet been made “available to all ACP countries”.
A report from the Working Group on Bananas submitted during the Ministerial Consultations on Bananas, noted that the Geneva Agreement of December 2009 devotees an important section to the accompanying measures to enable the ACP-banana exporting countries to remain competitive.
It said so far, in spite of the adoption of the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) in 2011, and the 2012 submissions by Belize, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Dominica, Ghana, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname of their national adaptation strategies “which were approved in September 2012 by the European Union…the financial resources have not yet been made available for all ACP countries”.
The report noted that on the basis of the indications provided by the European Commission, about 166 of the 190 million Euros available have been committed for 2012 and the remaining 23.5 million Euros should be committed in 2013.
The report noted that the implementation stage of the BAMs in the ACP countries varies considerably from one country to another, and as had been pointed during a similar meeting in June, “the concerns of the ACP countries remain current.
“For example, additional support for the banana sector, upon expiry of the Banana Accompanying Measures appears now, more than ever, the only way of preserving the banana sector in the ACP-exporting countries.
“In fact, analysis of the export figures and the development in the market access conditions for ACP countries, coupled with the situation on the international banana market, particularly regarding the European Union, since the signing of the Geneva Agreement, points to this need,” the report warned.