21.   Denzil Douglas decried a recent World Trade Organization ruling dismantling special treatment for Caribbean banana growers on the European Market.

22.   Germany has also criticized the Caribbean banana quotas, saying they raise the prices European consumers pay for the fruit.

23.   He said Caribbean banana producers pose no threat to the United States because most bananas sold by U.S. companies are grown in Latin America.

24.   He said the threats come at a delicate time, as the United States also cuts back foreign aid and challenges lucrative European protections for Caribbean banana exports.

25.   He objected to a World Trade Organization ruling against incentives given Caribbean banana imports by the European Union.

26.   In January, the World Trade Organization will hear a U.S. complaint that Caribbean banana exports compete unfairly in Europe.

27.   Industry officials say the sale of Geest to the Ecuadorians, could trigger an industry war between Central American and Caribbean banana growers.

28.   It and other Eastern Caribbean countries are worried by U.S. challenges to the European trade perks given to Caribbean bananas, their most important agricultural export.

29.   Many farmers switched to other crops amid the demise of preferential treatment granted Caribbean banana exports on the European Market.

30.   NAFTA has cut into Caribbean textile exports to the United States, and Washington is fighting to eliminate European market advantages enjoyed by Caribbean banana producers.