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Contact:
George Jude
Friday, February 27, 2004 - Prime Minister, Hon. Kenny Anthony, yesterday
met with the key organizations in the banana industry to brief them on the
outcome of his recent meetings in the United Kingdom and Brussels on the banana
industry. Two weeks ago, Dr. Anthony, together with Prime Minister Dr. Ralph
Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Prime Minister Roosevelt
Skerritt of Dominica, held meetings in the United Kingdom with the main buyers
of Windward Islands bananas, the Caribbean Banana Exporters’ Association, and
the British Minister with responsibility for Agriculture. He visited WIBDECO’s
ripening and distribution centre at Stansted, and met, in Brussels, with the
European Commissioners for Trade, Agriculture and Development, respectively.
Attending yesterday’s meeting were the Chairman and General Manager of the Saint
Lucia Banana Corporation, the Tropical Quality Fruit Company, and the Commercial
Farmers Organization, as well as the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations
Officer and the Director of Technical Services of WIBDECO. The Minister of
Agriculture, the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, the
Deputy Permanent Secretary and the Director of Agricultural Services in the
Ministry of Agriculture, the Cabinet Secretary, the Administrative Attache to
the Prime Minister, in addition to the Heads of the Banana Industry Trust and
the Banana Emergency Recovery Unit, were also in attendance.
The Prime Minister briefed the meeting on the outcome of his discussions in the
United Kingdom, and informed the industry leaders that while there existed
goodwill among the UK supermarkets towards Windward Islands bananas, the recent
quality problems, coupled with a protracted price war among UK supermarket
chains, were placing tremendous pressure on the local industry. Dr. Anthony also
informed the meeting of the likely prospects for a new banana import regime in
2006, and indicated the steps that would be taken to strengthen the negotiating
position of the Windward Islands in the determination of a new trading regime.
The Prime Minister concluded the ninety minute meeting by informing that in the
light of the current delicate situation, he would convene regular meetings at
six week intervals with industry leaders, to facilitate greater dialogue and
collaboration on the key issues confronting the industry.
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