Additional support approved for European banana producers
The European Parliament threw its support behind a November agreement on Tuesday to provide an additional €40 million (US$54 million) of support to European banana producers, Europa Press reported.
The support comes as a response to reduced tariffs for large outside producers such as Colombia and Ecuador. Around half of the money will go to assist growers in the Canary Islands.
Parliament member Gabriel Mato of the People's Party described the move as "palpable recognition" of the sector's economic value for the continent's outermost regions.
"The agreed upon aid for this sector comes at a time when producers need more than ever a guarantee to maintain an adequate level of competitiveness against imports from third world countries," he said in Europa Press.
Under the same agreement, the parliament will also investigate the impact of trade agreements with developing countries to ensure they do not hurt local production.
Banana Link's International Coordinator Alistair Smith criticized the measure for its impact on outside producers.
"Banana Link has no problem with funds being made available for European growers to adopt more sustainable practices, quite the contrary, but the growers in Latin America who need this support receive nothing from Brussels, despite billions of Euros having been taken out of their value chains in tariffs in the last two decades," Smith told www.freshfruitportal.com.
"If nothing else, EU member states and the European Commission owe it to European growers to ensure that the competition they have from Latin American bananas in European markets is fairer. The only way for the EU to do this is to ensure that support is made available to Latin American growers' and plantation workers' unions for sustainable banana development. Currently, not a single euro has been spent by the EU in this area."
The recently approved funds come in addition to €653 million in POSEI funding to help outermost regions with specific projects. €268.4 million of the sum goes to the Canary Islands.
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