MADRID, Spain – 5 October 2026
An International Banana Accord for the enforcement of labour rights in the banana value, supply or production chains seeking constructive solutions to ensure plantation workers earn living wages has been launched by the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) and the Coordination Body of Latin American Banana and Agro-industrial Unions (COLSIBA) on the eve of the opening of the Fruit Attraction trade fair in Madrid.
The official launch took place in the presence of several key retailers who purchase bananas and who have made public commitments to ensure that workers in their international banana supply chains are paid a living wage, while also mitigating value-chain risks in alignment with European legislation intended to hold large corporations to account for human rights and environmental harm in their sourcing strategies.
The International Banana Accord : a trade union impact-oriented proposal in favour of more dialogue in the value chain
Designed to enforce labour rights across the entire value chains of signatory supermarkets, the Accord represents a bipartite framework for dialogue developed jointly by IUF Africa and COLSIBA, supported by Banana Link, 3F, and the University of Costa Rica.
Designed to meet the requirements of the 2024 European Union Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the Accord establishes specific operational mechanisms to address fundamental International Labour Organisation (ILO) rights, human rights, trade union guarantees, job security, non-discrimination, and risk prevention for workers, communities, and the environment. Crucially, it directly links banana box prices paid by supermarkets to the attainment of living wages – negotiated through sector wide collective bargaining based on verifiable country-specific criteria and independent living wage-gap assessments – while requiring supermarkets to negotiate commercial terms that ensure the financial sustainability of producers.
To guarantee compliance throughout the entire supply chain, the Accord establishes a binding legal liability framework formalised through commercial contracts between supermarkets, producers, and all participating supply-chain companies. Compliance is directly verified at the farm level by trade unions, while occupational risk management is tied to collective bargaining and the requirements of European agrochemical regulations.
For collective and multi-individual disputes, the Accord introduces a dispute resolution mechanism featuring an independent expert panel that issues binding decisions within 45 days, supplemented by a tripartite arbitral tribunal empowered to order full compensation, restoration of rights, fines, and mandatory collective bargaining provisions. The administrative secretariat, verification system, and dispute resolution proceedings are financed through a dedicated levy on each box of bananas, which is deposited into a trust fund.
Retailer Collaboration and Due Diligence Alignment
Inspired by similar Accords in the Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Cambodian garment sectors, the launch signals a major shift toward structural co-operation between retailers and banana trade unions.
However, the success of the Accord will depend on the extent to which producer companies are willing to enter into collective bargaining with trade unions to negotiate sustainable solutions. By addressing living wage gaps directly through retailer purchasing practices, along with enforceable dispute resolution, participating retailers and trade unions are establishing a transparent, accountable framework to satisfy statutory due diligence obligations while protecting fundamental human rights at the plantation level.
Notes
The launch event in Madrid on 5 October and was organised with the support of Banana Link, University of Costa Rica, 3F international, CNV international and IUF.
The meeting was held following a three-day strategy meeting of the European Banana and Agro-Industrial Product Action Network (EUROBAN), with participation from 23 civil society organisations from Latin America, Africa, Europe and the USA.
The proposed ‘International Banana Accord – for the enforcement of labour rights in the banana value, supply or production chains’ will be available in English, French and Spanish.
Please get in touch with Banana Link / the EUROBAN Secretariat for further information :
Contact: fabrice@bananalink.org.uk and anna@bananalink.org.uk
Photo: EUROBAN delegates at Accord launch event in Madrid
