The European Union is to give more than 250 million dollars to countries in Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean (ACP) to help them cope with a deal struck by the bloc with Latin American banana-growing nations, dpa quoted officials as saying today. In December, the EU agreed to progressively lower tariffs on Latin American bananas, from 176 to 114 euros (239-155 dollars) per tonne, ending a 15-year-old trade dispute that also involved the United States. But as a result of the deal, poorer ACP countries, which enjoy preferential access to the EU market, were left exposed to greater competition. The EU's development commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said in a statement that the aid approved Wednesday would "help ACP countries adapt to the new realities of the banana trade regime." The 190-million-euro (260 million dollars) grant is to be shared out between Belize, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname. Funding is going to be spread over the 2010-2013 period, the commission said. The EU executive added that the aid is going to be targeted towards improving the competitiveness of those countries' banana industries, encouraging their economic diversification and supporting broader social, economic and environmental aims.
