Croydon MEP James Moorhouse is spearheading the fight to avert a looming transatlantic banana war between Europe and the United States.

The Euro-MP for London South and Surrey East has just returned from Washington and New York where he was lobbying for a negotiated settlement to the banana-drama.

The dispute centres on the EU's tariff regime for the Caribbean crop.

At present the EU gives preferential treatment to farmers from former colonies.

The small producers and family farmers say without this lifeline they would be impoverished.

The huge American multi-nationals say the situation is not only prejudicing them but going against world trade rules.

The fear now is that the US could impose sanctions on £1bn of EU exports to the United States as early as March next year.

Mr Moorhouse, who jumped ship from the Conservative Party to the Liberal Democrats in October, said: "There are agreed world trade rules for resolving this kind of dispute.

"It would be very rash to act outside the rules and thereby jeopardise not just good transatlantic relations, but also the stability of the multilateral free trade system."

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