h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

They also grow bananas which they aren't allowed to sell in Europe for some strange reason. Does anyone know why? Too bendy? Too straight?

If European agricultural inspectors are anything like those in America (or reportedly Australia), they're afraid Madeira is home to some banana-based supervirus which will conquer the continent if bananas are allowed to migrate freely.

The impression I got was that the EU doesn't want to annoy the American banana growers any more than they already have and are making the banana producers of Maderia pay for that.

Of course, I didn't want to be so aggresive in the first post!

That's probably the secret reason, which still makes your European banana inspectors much like agricultural inspectors throughout the world.

But speaking for the Western Hemisphere, unless the Madeiran embargo is part of a comprehensive ban on African bananas, I don't think letting Madeiran bananas into the EU is going to put too much of a bite into our market.

I had to know!

A search on google for Madiera banana (two seperate words) landed, as the seventh result, a long article entitled "The EU Banana Regime and the Caribbean Island Economies," which Eexplains It All.

Really!

Puts new meaning into the phrase "banana republic!"

If I'm not mistaken, that's the original meaning of "banana republic".

The article gives the impression that Madeiran bananas aren't banned, just expensive.

You are absolutely right, Administrator-General. The original meaning of the term is restored.

And yes, I also got the impression that Madeiran bananas have simply been made so expensive as to amount effectively to a ban, without actually prohibiting them.

I may be splitting hairs (or peels) here, but to *make* Madeiran bananas expensive, you'd have to tax them specifically. The impression I got from the article was, Madeiran bananas are not *made* expensive, they *are* expensive.

I shall have a peruse. Thanks for the info