BRUSSELS, Nov 25: EU governments agreed on Friday to a proposed banana import tariff of 176 euros per ton as the 25-nation bloc tries to end a long-standing dispute with Latin American producers, EU officials said.

The European Union had to cut its banana tariff after the World Trade Organization (WTO) struck down a previous offer, saying it was too high to allow fair competition from Latin American exporters.

The EU has been struggling to maintain a preferential banana trade deal with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) grouping of countries after rival Latin American nations won a string of victories in banana battles with the EU at the 148-nation WTO.

The dispute holds big stakes for Latin American banana producers, which export an annual combined 3.4 million tons of bananas to the 25-state EU.

The first 2.2 million tons are currently covered by a quota that sets a tariff of 75 euros per ton but the rest are slapped with a tariff of 680 euros.

Latin American producers want a tariff of 75 euros per ton on all of their banana exports to the EU.

The proposed offer of 176 euros is to be endorsed at the ministerial level next week EU officials said.

EU ambassadors struck a deal on Friday through a vote by qualified majority with seven member states against the offer.

The dispute goes back to the late 1990s when Brussels, Washington — which was backing US-based fruit multinationals — and some Latin American countries were locked in a bruising confrontation over the EU’s banana barriers.

That battle culminated in a WTO ruling in 2000 that the EU system broke trade rules. Brussels agreed to come up with a new system, but the WTO has since ruled in favour of Latin American producers that that system is unfair.—AFP