11.   The European Union agreed to alter its current import system, which grants preferential trade access to goods from its former colonies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

12.   The tariffs are part of a government-imposed import quota system designed to prop up the price of U.S.-grown sugar.

13.   The ruling followed complaints by growers in the United States, Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala, who argued the current import system violated international trade agreements.

14.   The ruling followed complaints by growers in the United States, Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala, who argued the import system violated international trade agreements.

15.   The WTO on Monday ruled in favor of U.S. and Latin American banana growers, who complained the current European import system violated international trade accords.

16.   The WTO had already condemned an earlier EU banana import system, but Brittan said the new regime met all the WTO concerns.

17.   Those preferences will expire soon following a Monday ruling by the World Trade Organization, which found the current import system violated international trade accords.

18.   Under a compromise suggested by Ruggiero, the panel looking at the new EU banana import system will also consider whether the proposed U.S. sanctions are fair.

19.   However, a strict import permit system would have to be introduced to prevent violations, he added.

20.   But poor infrastructure, an outdated import valuation system and the tortuous bureaucracy were still major concerns, according to US businessmen.