Ecuador's banana exports to the European Union (EU) have declined by 3 percent since the 27-member bloc adopted a new tariff system a year ago, the Ecuadorian daily El Comercio reported on Friday.

The share of Ecuadorian banana exports in EU markets has also dropped, said the report.

From last November to January, Ecuador exported 954,700 tonnes of bananas to the EU, accounting for 24.6 percent of the bloc's imports, down 3.8 percent from 2005.

With the share of banana exports from Ecuador and other Latin American nations decreasing, the share of bananas from countries in the African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) group reached 21.7 percent in 2006, up 1.4 percent from the previous year, said El Comercio.

The EU gives preferential access to bananas from countries in the ACP group.

ACP bananas enter EU markets free of duty, inside an annual quota of 775,000 tonnes, but Ecuadorian exporters have to pay duties of 176 euros (about 226 U.S. dollars) for each tonne of bananas exported to the bloc.

In November, Ecuador, the world's largest banana exporter, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the EU after Brussels refused to lower the tariffs.

Banana is the most important agricultural product in Ecuador, and its exports account for 25 percent of all Ecuador's agricultural exports. Some 97 percent of all banana output is aimed for the European market.

Before the single-duty system was put into force on Jan. 1, 2006, Latin American exporters paid 75 euros (about 96 dollars) per tonne, within set quotas, to get their fruit into Europe.

Source: Xinhua