RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/DSB/COM/3
30October 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4755)
Original: English
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES -REGIME FOR THE IMPORTATION,
SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OFBANANAS
Statement bySaint Lucia
Attherequest ofthedelegation ofSaint Lucia thefollowing statement wasmade available
attheDSBmeeting on25September 1997.
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Today theDispute Settlement Body hasbefore it,thereports regarding theEuropean
Communities 'regime fortheimportation, saleanddistribution ofbananas. TheAppellate Report is
stillbeing studied bymyauthorities whoareaware thatitwilltakeaconsiderable amount offurther
scrutiny andanalysis tounderstand thebroad range ofconclusions arrived at.Butthereisthough enough
already intheReports tocause anxiety amongst banana suppliers. Inparticular, thetreatment bythe
Appellate Body oftheobligations oftheEUunder theLomé Convention.
Intheevent ofimplementation oftheconclusions intheirentirety, guaranteed access forour
traditional levels ofbanana exports asrequired bytheLomé Convention could bejeopardized whilst
wecertainly would notbeabletoobtain aprice which issufficient tocover ourcosts ofproduction.
Butthescope oftheruling goeswaybeyond bananas andcould haveasyetunclear implications for
severalotherimportarrangementsforagriculturalgoodsaswellasthefutureofdevelopmentcooperation
arrangements inthefieldoftrade between richandpoorcountries.
Wehavehadserious concerns regarding theprocess which hasbeenfollowed especially at
thePanel stage. Since wewere notfullparticipants, wewere impeded from adequately presenting
ourcaseandsubsequently identifying those grounds ofappeal where wethought thatthepanel had
erred andonwhich basis thefindings could havebeenoverturned. Butaccording totherules, there
isnofurther remedy within thedispute settlement mechanism. Therealchallenge totheWTO isnot
howeffective itsDispute Settlement Body canbeinrigidly applying theletter ofregulations butrather
whether theprocess bywhich decisions arearrived isperceived asbeing fair. Aflawed process or
anunjust decision doesnocredit totheintegrity ofthesystem.
Further tobecredible ajudicial system musttakeaccount oftheconsequences ofimplementation
ofitsrulings. Onecannot justify conclusions which ifimplemented would runcounter tothevery
principles oftheWTO justbecause theywere arrived atbytherigidinterpretation oftherules.
Theexperience ofthecasehasexposed blatant shortcomings inthesystem which, must be
addressed inanyreform, including thenecessity totakeintoaccount theimpact ofdecisions especially
when, asinthiscase, theaffected countries havevulnerable andfragile economies. Ifitisalready
toolateforourbanana case,maybe therightimprovements canyetbemade tothesystem which would
behelpful totheparticipation ofsmall developing countries andreassure them thatthesystem isnot
structurally weighted against them.