Question 1
A)
On July 1, 1993, the European Union adopted new policies regarding the import of bananas in Europe. The new banana import regime divided banana imports into four categories, and had different policies depending on the category of imports. The four categories of imports were: imports from Latin American countries and other countries that were not in the ACP region (also referred to as “third country” imports); imports from the ACP region under the quota of two million tons (also referred to as “traditional” ACP imports) (i.e. the ACP region consisted mostly of the former colonies of Britain and France); imports from the ACP region in excess of the quota amount (also referred to as “non-traditional” ACP imports); and imports from territories that belonged to European countries (also referred to as EC imports). According to this regime, third country imports would be taxed at a rate of 30%. Third country imports in excess of two million tons would be taxed at 250%, making it virtually impossible for those countries to export more than two million tons of bananas to Europe per year. Traditional ACP imports would not be taxed. Non-traditional ACP imports would face a tax of 222%. As for EC imports, they would be treated the same way as imports from the ACP region.
The two million ton quota for third country imports was divided in three according to three licenses. Category A operators, which are the operators who had historically marketed bananas from non-ACP regions (i.e. mostly American companies, like Chiquita), would be entitled to import 66.5% of the quota amount. Category B operators, which are the operators who had historically marketed bananas from ACP regions and European territories in amounts that respected the quota, wo ...