restrictions on banana imports in march 2001 ecuador indicated that turkish authorities were issuing phytosanitary certificates for a specific and limited volume of bananas only. ecuador believed that the control certificates were not only de facto quantitative restrictions but also imposed unnecessary and unjustified administrative burdens. ecuador asked turkey for a written response to a number of questions submitted and planned to pursue the matter bilaterally. turkey replied that due to resource constraints turkey could not verify whole shipments at once. turkey had published all relevant regulations as well as testing and sampling methods. these were the same for both domestic producers and importers and in conformity with international standards. in july 2001 ecuador indicated that the replies received in response to its questions regarding the kontrol belgesi certificates did not seem to correspond to the information provided by exporters and importers. obtaining the certificates had taken u to three times as long as claimed by turkey there were inconsistencies regarding the duration and validity of the certificates. in the case of bananas the expiration dates regularly coincided with the beginning of turkeys banana harvest. in addition the certificates were granted for a maximum of one thousand tons and thus acted as quantitative restrictions. turkey claimed that one could obtain several certificates but exporters indicated that one had to use one certificate before a new one was granted. turkey replied that the certificate was a reference document used in customs proceedings and food safety analysis during the importation process. the system was described in the official gazette and was not used to limit quantities. issuance of the certificates took between three and seven working days if the information was complete and the validation period was between four and twelve months. turkey was ready to discuss the issue bilaterally. chile and colombia requested to be informed of future developments of the issue. the european communities requested to see turkeys responses to ecuadors questions. in june 2004 turkey reported that the issue of restrictions on banana imports from ecuador had been resolved.