Geneva, Nov 26 - World Trade Organisation (WTO) judges on Wednesday upheld a ruling against the European Union in the long-running "banana war" pitting Brussels against the United States and Latin American producers.
In its consideration of an EU appeal, the WTO's top court backed the findings of a WTO compliance panel that said the European Union was still discriminating against Latin American producers in the way it imports, distributes and sells bananas, violating trade laws.
"The WTO has for the eighth time ruled against the European Union for the inconsistency of its banana regime with its multilateral trade rules obligations," Ecuador's mission to the WTO said in a statement about the Appellate Body ruling.
The complainants in the case include the United States -- whose companies Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole have plantations in Latin America -- and banana producers Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
Some of those countries, including Ecuador, are pushing for a resolution of the long-running banana dispute as a condition for their accepting a deal in the Doha round of trade talks, which requires consensus among the WTO's 153 members.