Colombia was wrong to impose an import tax on frozen fries from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled.

The Colombian government had accused the three countries of dumping their product at below market prices in a long running dispute. When the chips were down, the cheap fries were putting local producers at a disadvantage, it argued.

The EU then brought the case to the WTO which said as early as October that there had been no question of unfair competition. An appeal by the Colombians has now resulted in the same ruling and any taxes must be removed or sanctions will follow.

Frozen fries exports from the three countries to Colombia are worth around €20 million a year.