According to a statement issued by the Association of Organizations of Banana Producers of the Canary Islands (Asprocan), last May Guatemala exceeded its banana export quota to the European Union (EU); however, "the European Commission decided not to apply the penalty foreseen by this mechanism while in the middle of a price crisis affecting Europe's banana productions."
In its decision of July 12, the European Commission acknowledged that “Guatemala's imports have stood 3.4% below the average EU price this year, which, in turn, has already been 7.4 % lower than in 2018.”
The evaluation carried out by the European Union, "which would affect Guatemalan exports for the months of July to December 2019, is nevertheless based on a market analysis in the period from January to March 2019." The case of Guatemala "adds to that of Nicaragua, which already exceeded its banana export quota at the end of March, again without consequences."
As for the Commission's analysis regarding the community productions, “this July's decision has been taken considering the impact on the European production as of April, but without taking into account the crisis that has hit the entire European market at this time of the year, in which Guatemala, following the EC's decision, may continue to benefit from the preferential tariff for its imports into the EU.”
Since the tariff reduction, exports from Latin America to the EU have increased by more than 40%, from 3.5 million tons to 4.9 million tons. And in the case of Guatemala, exports to the EU have grown by more than 430% between 2014 and 2018.
