2nd February 2010, Banana Link

On 8th December 2009 at the FAO headquarters in Rome, the World Banana Forum was launched, creating a permanent space of assembly for participants representing the global banana supply-chain.  All 150 participants agreed to set the mission of ‘Working Together for Sustainable Banana Production and Trade’.  As such, the aim of the Forum is to promote open dialogue and inspire collaboration between stakeholders in order to produce pragmatic outcomes for the improvement of the banana industry and to achieve an industry-wide consensus on best practices regarding workplace issues, gender equity, environmental impact, sustainable production and economic issues.

14th January 2010, SINTRAINAGRO, Ciénaga, Magdalena

185 workers at the Palo Alto plantation, belonging to Palo Alto Gnecco Espinosa Investments, in the Ciénaga district of Magdalena province, were evicted from their workplace at gun-point, leaving one of the workers injured.

14th January, Tescopoly

The Government has announced today that it will accept the Competition Commission's recommendation to establish a new supermarket ombudsman to enforce the new supermarket code of practice and protect suppliers from abuses of power by the big retailers.

12th January, Banana Link

Farmer leaders in Northern Mindanao yesterday marked the start of Lakbayan, a series of protests in major cities nationwide, by marching with torches.  Lakbayan commemorates the Mendiola massacre in 1987, and protests will continue until 22nd January.

7th January 2010, El Comercio, Ecuador

Within the last six days, producers in the province of El Oro have received $121,000 for the bunches delivered.  The purchasing system for bunches of bananas that the Government has pursued since 31st December has not convinced many producers in El Oro.  Yesterday, in the Council of El Oro (la Gobernación), no agreement was reached to increase the price.  Representatives of 10 banana producer organizations tried to persuade the authority to be paid between $4 and $5 per bunch. This would help to finance the labour costs for the handling, cutting, washing and transportation of the fruit.

16th Dec, Bridges Weekly Trade News

The European Union and a group of Latin American countries have reached an agreement to end tensions over the EU’s tariffs on banana imports, bringing to a close the longest international trade dispute in memory.

At issue is the EU’s current banana import regime, which allows 775,000 tonnes of the fruit from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries - many of which are former European colonies - to enter the bloc duty-free each year. Meanwhile, Brussels places a €176 per tonne tariff on bananas from all other exporters.

15th December, Banana Link

After decades of dispute, the world’s ‘banana wars’ are finally set to come to an end. An historic deal between the EU, Latin America, African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries and the US was signed at the weekly meeting of the WTO Council Secretariat in Geneva this afternoon, after the last details were agreed yesterday. Trade negotiators cheered and applauded as Eckart Guth, the EU ambassador to the WTO, announced, "So, it's done. Thank you very much". European Trade Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner expressed her relief that the dispute had finally been settled: "I'm very happy to see the longest-running trade dispute finally solved," she said.  "History is being made today because this dispute has soured global trade relations for too long."  The deal signifies a step towards an eventual agreement in the WTO’s Doha Round of trade negotiations which aim to reduce barriers to global trade.

2nd December, Banana Link

Stakeholders in the banana industry are to launch the World Banana Forum on sustainable banana production and trade at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy next week. This meeting is the result of years of previous collaborative work involving representatives from banana industry – civil society organisations, fruit companies, retailers and national governments - as part of the ‘Multi-Stakeholder Forum Project’. This project has been coordinated with support from Banana Link and is implemented by the FAO with co-funding from the Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom.

Agreement is "near, but not yet in the bag"
19th November 2009, Banana Link

WTO banana deal expected this week
11th November 2009, Banana Link

Guatemalan women workers locked in Labour Ministry
6th November 2009, Banana Link

Taking a stand against banana price wars
2nd November 2009, Banana Link

Ecuadorian president proposes state export company
October 26th 2009, Banana Link