The cost of bananas, which has not gone up at all in the UK in the last three decades, could now be about to drop in a controversial move, made possible by Brexit. The price today, around 115p per kilo, is the same as it was in 1990.
The UK's banana market is dominated by the "dollar banana" producers of Latin America, who can sell their product cheaply due to rolled-over European Union-negotiated free trade deals that have significantly reduced import taxes.
As part of its trade deal with Andean countries – Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru – the UK government is currently conducting a review of banana tariffs. Afruibana, the Pan-African association of banana producers and exporters, has said the move to diverge from the EU commitment would amount to a ‘betrayal’ by the UK.
In the past year, the UK has granted tariff concessions on bananas to Mexico and Peru as it joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Another trade agreement with Australia aims to eliminate all tariffs within eight years.
Source: theweek.com