Ecuador is worried about the potential impact of the European Union's new import tariff on bananas from Latin American countries, local media reported on Monday.

The tariff, of 176 euros (208 U.S. dollars) per ton for bananas, will take effect from January 2006.

Speaking at the recent World Trade Organisation conference, Ecuador's external trade minister Jorge Illingworth, expressed strong dissatisfaction with the proposed new tariff.

"For the moment we hope that the 176 euro tariff will be reduced to 100 euros (115 dollars) or 120 euros (138 dollars), and that in future it will be under the 80 euros (92 dollars) paid this year," he said.

Currently, the first 2.2 million tons are covered by a quota that sets a tariff of 75 euros per ton but the rest are hit with a tariff of 680 euros.

The new arrangement would replace a contested quota-tariff system that had been outlawed by the WTO following previous challenges.

Latin American banana producers export an annual combined 3.4 million tons of bananas -- or around two-thirds of total imports -- to the 25-nation EU. Ecuador is the largest banana exporter in the world.

Source: Xinhua