Caribbean bananas have a market in Europe-

A trio of regional Prime Ministers will be in Brussels on Friday for talks with top EU Commissioners on the issue.

They are Prime Ministers Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Kenny Anthony of St Lucia and Roosevelt Skerritt of Dominica.

Mr Gonsalves and Mr Skerritt told BBC Caribbean Service of their continuing concerns of threats, now even to the special access they have to the UK market.

"It's more than lobbying, we also want to ensure that organisationally mechanisms can be put into place to carry the message about Windward Island bananas," Mr Gonsalves said.

One of the problems we have had with the EU is that they would say they have put aside a certain amount of money but the money is so often hemmed around by certain conditions, that you can't access it.   St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves

"In Dominica we are not as diversified as the other islands, so we depend heavily on the industry. We have to continue the lobby to get the commissioners in the region to treat us differently," said Mr Skerritt.

Mr Gonsalves believes that the people of Britain and Europe have to understand how EU bureaucracy is affecting the region's banana industry.

"One of the problems we have had with the EU is that they would say they have put aside a certain amount of money but the money is so often hemmed around by certain conditions, that you can't access it," Mr Gonsalves said.

"Even if you satisfy certain conditions, the actual procedure to get the money is so labyrinthine, that sometimes it seems as if you are pulling teeth without anaesthetic."

Earlier this week analyst Chris White, editor of Eurofruit magazine, said it was time that Caribbean banana farmers considered doing deals through companies like Chiquita.

Chiquita was once regarded in the Caribbean as the opponent of the niche market that Caribbean banana exports had into Europe.

"At the end of the day, it's finding what the consumer wants and if the consumer wants to buy a Chiquita banana in certain markets, why shouldn't Caribbean banana producers try to supply Chiquita with some of their bananas which taste different and look different?"

Mr Skerritt said that his country has fared somewhat better with the supermarkets in the UK.

"The UK Supermarkets are committed to working with the Windward Islands to maintain our market share because they recognise that a number of families in the region depend on those bananas for survival."