BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Latine American countries expressed welcome to the deal between EU and Latin American banana producers on reducing EU import duty on the fruit.

    However, the deal drew rejection from banana exporters of African, the Caribbean and the Pacific grouping (ACP), which fear the tariff cut to Latin American bananas might drive them out of the EU market.

    Under the deal reached Sunday on the sidelines of the ongoing Doha round talks in Geneva, EU duty on Latin American bananas will be reduced from 176 euros (276 dollars) to 148 euros (232 dollars)per ton as of Jan. 1, 2009, and will be further reduced to 114 euros (178 dollars) in 2016.

    Eleven Central and South American countries, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, will benefit from the tariff cut.

    Describing the deal as "acceptable," Deputy Trade Minister of Ecuador, the largest banana exporter in the world, Eduardo Egas, said the agreement is expected to settle a 15-year trade dispute between the Latin America and the EU.

    Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim had praised the deal as historic while Panama's Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro hailed it as "favorable" to its national interests. "With it we put an end to a long dispute," Navarro added.

    On Monday, Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister also said the deal with the EU "has been negotiated" and will not be revised.

    However, countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific grouping (ACP) expressed opposition to the deal and offered a counter-proposal.

    ACP's spokesman, Cameroon's Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, even threatened to block the WTO negotiations if the counter-proposal was rejected.

    On Monday, the ACP countries withdrew from a plenary meeting to show their protest. Although ACP countries' banana exports to Europe are duty free, they fear the barrier cuts to Latin American bananas could weaken their competitiveness.

    Meanwhile, Spain also expressed opposition to the banana deal. Spanish Rural Environment Minister Josep Puxeu told reporters Monday that Spain would support high duty on Latin American bananas for "as long as possible."