The Union and the US have reached a truce in their long-running banana dispute

Date: 04/02/1999

In a deal personally brokered by World Trade Organisation director-general Renato Ruggiero, a panel will examine whether the EU's revised banana regime is still in breach of international trading rules and, if so, to what extent American firms have lost out. If the US wins the argument, sanctions could be imposed on Union exports worth €490 million next month.