WTO Rebuffs EU

The World Trade Organization rejected European Union plans to triple its banana-import tariff in a victory for Latin American producers seeking to maintain access to the world’s biggest banana market. The EU was planning to introduce a flat tariff of $281 a metric ton next year in place of the existing quota-based import system. Led by Ecuador, the world’s biggest banana exporter, seven Latin American governments earlier this year collectively opposed the EU’s planned single tariff. The 25-nation EU buys 3.8 million tons of bananas a year