(Recast, updates with background)

QUITO, July 7 (Reuters) - Banana exporters from Ecuador, the world's top exporter of the fruit, on Tuesday called on the government to sanction the European Union if the bloc fails to cut import tariffs.

"If by this summer, the EU's negotiating charade continues, and no legally solid settlement has been reached with large, enforceable tariff cuts equal to those agreed in Geneva last July, Ecuador will have to take reprisals," the exporter group said in a statement.

Ecuador has been locked in a long-running trade dispute with the EU over the bloc's import tariffs on the fruit that most Latin American exporters say is too high.

Latin American countries led by Ecuador have said the EU must stick to a tariff deal negotiated in July 2008.

Under the deal, the EU would have cut its banana import tariff of 176 euros ($227.50) per tonne to 114 euros by 2016, with an initial cut next year to 148 euros. (Reporting By Eduardo Garcia; Editing by Marguerita Choy)