Britain Weighs Boycott of Some Bananas

Britain’s Labor government may help launch a boycott of Central American bananas to protest working conditions on the region’s plantations, a spokeswoman said. The boycott could help Caribbean growers who fear a loss of sales to Britain because of a World Trade Organization rule forcing the European Union to import cheaper bananas from Central America. International Development Minister George Foulkes is to announce a plan today to promote a “fair trade” label on Caribbean bananas. Bananas from the Caribbean islands, many of them Commonwealth members, are grown mainly by small farmers, while those in Central America are grown on U.S.-owned plantations where workers are said to be mistreated.