Nov 9th 2012, 18:18 by Economist.com
A 20-year long dispute over banana imports has come to an end. On Thursday November 8th the European Union and 11 Latin American countries signed an agreement which ended legal disputes and committed to reducing the maximum tariffs on bananas. The dispute (the longest running in the history of multilateral trade) dates back to the formation of the European single market, when a common system of quotas and tariffs was implemented, restricting banana imports from outside Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific. Over the last two decades, several Latin American countries (and America) have complained to the World Trade Organisation, which adjudicates between its members, over this preferential treatment. And with good reason; the humble banana is one of the world’s most popular fruits, worth some $8 billion in world exports. The European Union imports around a third of the bananas traded. Ecuador, one of the countries in the agreement and one of the world's biggest producers, is the world's biggest exporter of bananas and Europe's biggest supplier.
关于香蕉进口长达20年之久的争端划上句号。11月8日（星期四），欧盟和11个拉美国家签署一项协议结束了法律纠纷并致力于减少香蕉最高关税。这一争端是多边贸易史上最长的，可以追溯到欧洲单一市场形成时。当时实施的是配额和关税的共同体系，限制从非洲、加勒比海和太平洋地区以外进口香蕉。在过去二十年，几个拉美国家（和美国）向世界贸易组织抱怨这种优惠待遇——世界贸易组织在其成员国中其裁决作用。他们的抱怨有很好的理由，朴实无华的香蕉是世界上最受欢迎的水果之一，每年的世界出口价值约80亿美元。欧盟进口的香蕉占全部香蕉贸易的1/3。世界最大生产商之一，同时也达成协议的厄瓜多尔是世界最大香蕉出口国和欧洲最大供应国。
