he banana war is the longest running trade dispute in the world. The conflict centres on bananas that are imported to the European Union.

In the 1950s and 60s European colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region (known as ACP countries) became independent. In the 1970s the European Union started to let the Caribbean countries export bananas to European countries without putting tariffs on them. This was supposed to help these countries with their economies. Some of them only had bananas and other farming goods to export. On the other side the European Union placed a tax on bananas that came from other countries, including the large banana-producing countries of Central and South America, like Ecuador and Honduras. The ACP countries, therefore, were able bring cheaper bananas to Europe.

Over the past decades this has led to a growing dispute between Latin American countries and the European Union. The banana-exporting countries think it is unfair to put tariffs on their bananas and not on the products coming from the ACP countries. The United States also got involved in the conflict, because the big banana producers in South America are large American companies, like Del Monte or Dole.

After years of talks there finally seems to be an end to the banana war. The European Union has agreed to slowly reduce its tariffs on Latin American bananas. Instead of paying 176 Euros for a ton of bananas that are exported to the EU these countries will only have to pay 114 Euros per ton in the next years.