Vol.65/No.32            August 20, 2001 
 
 
Banana trade accord threatens to unravel
 
BY MAURICE WILLIAMS  
An accord to patch up a long-standing trade dispute between the U.S. imperialists and their rivals in Europe over banana import rules threatened to unravel because the big powers failed to ask countries in Central America if they approved the pact. The governments of Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua refused go along with implementing the trade deal saying they lacked all the information on the new rules that they needed. Under the agreement Washington lifted sanctions worth $191 million on exports from EU countries while the EU agreed to amend its banana trade rule by Jan. 1, 2002. If the EU fails to meet the deadline, Washington could reimpose sanctions.  
 
 
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