Banana Wars

Gordon Myers, CMG, is a former senior British civil servant who, since 1993, has worked with the Caribbean Banana Exporters Association (CBEA) in trying to defend the interests of Caribbean banana growers who depend on the European market. His service in the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) (1951-89) included two periods dealing with crises in the Caribbean banana trade in 1970-73 and 1982-84. From 1975 to 1979, he was seconded to the Foreign Office to serve in the UK Permanent Representation to the EEC. Following retirement, he acted as Special Adviser to the British House of Commons Agriculture Committee during its inquiry into the negotiations for a single European market regime for bananas.

• 1. Introduction2. The Beginnings3. A Benevolent Empire4. The Windward Islands5. Banana Wars in the Commonwealth6. Judicial Review and Resolve to Reform7. The European Community prior to 19938. The Market and the Major Players9. Negotiating the New Regime10. The First GATT Challenges, 1993-9411. The Birth of the WTO: Compromise at Marrakesh12. Chiquita and the US Campaign13 .The First WTO Case14. A Disputed Conformity15. Spin and Reality16. Seeking an Agreed Solution17. Cotonou Complications18. Winners and Losers19. A Threatened Future20. Prospects for Survival21. Equitable Trading22. Reflections on the WTO23. Post MortemAppendix: A Climate of Uncertainty

'...a lucid and detailed history of the banana trade in the Caribbean region...buy 'Banana Wars' , buy free trade bananas, buy organic bananas and buy Windward Island bananas.' Tribune, June 2005 'Gordon Myers has written with clarity, sensitivity, and wisdom, a story of life and production for the people of the Caribbean who have been engaged in the banana business for over one hundred years. His is a remarkable book. It covers a critical productive sector, bananas, part of the economic base which sustains our evolving Caribbean civilisation.' The Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 2001 'Gordon Myers' expertise on the banana issue is well known. However his account of the Caribbean banana farmers' continuing struggle to survive eloquently reveals both his commitment and his concern. Current debates about world trade and unfettered liberalisation should be informed by the history of how livelihoods in the Caribbean have been destroyed, by decisions taken thousands of miles away in the US, in the EU and at the WTO. I commend The Banana Wars to all those who subscribe to the view that vulnerable banana producers need protection. The alternative is massive rural unemployment and a fall in national income levels. Unrealistic calls for diversification and restructuring should take into account the specific difficulties faced by traditional banana farmers in the Caribbean. With the prospect of enlargement of the European Union and the imminent inclusion of ten new member states, we have to protect the markets of Europe's traditional banana suppliers.' Glenys Kinnock MEP 'Gordon Myers has written a thoroughly researched and very readable book, tracing the history of the banana as a commercial crop and placing it in the socio and political context of the Caribbean and Latin America. Its publication is both timely and relevant in the face of the global trade negotiations now in progress, and should be compulsory reading for all those in the Third World now engaged in these negotiations.' Sir John Compton, Prime Minister of St Lucia 1982-1996