1.   After successfully complaining to GATT about the European restrictions, the four worked out individual agreements with the European Union about the control of their banana exports.

2.   Patterson was supposed to leave Wednesday on a highly publicized lobbying trip to Britain to preserve European Union trade perks for Caribbean banana exports.

3.   A U.S. Virgin Islands lawmaker wants the territory to intervene in a dispute over Caribbean banana exports, warning a blow to the industry could encourage illegal immigration.

4.   As former European colonies, the Caribbean islands pay no tariffs on their banana exports to Europe, an agreement they claim is say to their economic survival.

5.   Banana exports to Europe are a critical source of export earnings for the four nations that comprise the Windward Islands.

6.   Banana exports to Europe are a critical source of export earnings for the four nations that make up the Windward Islands.

7.   Banana exports are the foundation of several Caribbean economies, mainly Jamaica, St. Lucia and Dominica.

8.   Banana exports on all the Windwards suffered a blow when a major British supermarket chain decided to stop buying fruit from the region, citing insufficient quality control.

9.   But the United States has also angered nations in the region by challenging European trade benefits for Caribbean banana exports before the World Trade Organization.

10.   Caribbean leaders fear the U.S. opposition could wreck the economies of several small member states whose economies depend on banana exports.