Determinations Under Section 304 of the Trade Act of 1974: European Communities' Banana Regime

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The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has determined that certain acts, policies and practices of the European Communities (``EC'') that discriminate against U.S. banana marketing companies and distort international banana trade violate, or otherwise deny benefits to which the United States is entitled under, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This determination is based on the report of a dispute settlement panel convened under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the request of the United States, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico and the report of the WTO Appellate Body reviewing the panel report. The Appellate Body report and the panel report, as modified by the Appellate Body report, (``the WTO reports'') were adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on September 25, 1997. Following the adoption of the reports by the DSB and during a WTO arbitration hearing convened on December 17, 1997 to establish ``the reasonable period of time'' for the EC to implement the WTO reports, the EC stated its intention to comply with its international obligations and to implement all