Mad Cow Disease (BSE), genetically modified organisms, greater demand for organic produce, cloning of livestock, all enjoy the increasing fear and preoccupation of EU consumers with "safe food". EU food retailers have responded by requiring greater guarantees from suppliers that all foods supplied to them for distribution, including bananas, are safe and produced in line with their declared standards of "good agricultural practice". For the Windward Islands banana industries these new standards have become as important a competitive issue as the WTO rules and continued access to the EU market under the new EU Banana Regime. I review the evolution of these new standards and the nature of the industries response to the new imperatives .and assess their impacts on and implications for the Windward Islands banana industries.