Home>News Center>World
         
 

EU strikes landmark sugar reform deal
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-25 09:39

The European Union agreed on a major overhaul of its sugar subsidy program Thursday, cutting prices by 36 percent in a landmark deal that the EU said will strengthen its hand in upcoming world trade talks.

"I know I'll be in a much better position for the negotiations in December," said EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, referring to the world trade talks in Hong Kong.

She told reporters the agreement reached after three days of arduous talks "complies completely" with World Trade Organization rules and the EU said it would effectively end its dumping of cheap sugar on the world market.

However Caribbean producers decried the deal which will phase out their preferential access to Europe's high-price market.

"They have clearly looked after (their) own farmers and left us in the cold," said Ian McDonald, director of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean in Georgetown, Guyana. "This is devastating news."

Britain's Farm Minister Margaret Beckett, who chaired the talks, said the decision to overhaul of the EU's 40-year old sugar subsidies marked "a historic day," but acknowledged that implementing the reform would be tough for many countries.

"It was a decision of considerable difficulty and complexity," she said. "Every member state faced problems."

There was no immediate reaction in Washington, where government offices were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

U.S. food companies have long pressured the government to give them access to cheaper sugar from other countries, proposals fiercely resisted by members of Congress from sugar-producing states.

The U.S. government, seeking to protect its farmers and processors while ensuring a steady supply, limits imports and restricts how much sugar can be sold domestically.

EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel addresses the media at the end of a three-day long EU Agriculture Council at the European Council Headquarters in Brussels, Thursday Nov. 24, 2005.
EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel addresses the media at the end of a three-day long EU Agriculture Council at the European Council Headquarters in Brussels, Thursday Nov. 24, 2005.[AP]
Reform of the sugar sector is a highly sensitive issue and will cause job cuts at refineries and force many farmers to stop growing sugar beet and sugar cane. There are more than 325,000 sugar beet farmers in the EU.

Under the reform, Ireland will be forced to shut down all its sugar beet production due to quota cuts, while Italy will give up half of its production quotas in exchange for millions of euros (dollars) in aid for farmers

Other countries will also have to make deep cuts. Finland will close one of its two refineries, said Finnish Agriculture Minister Juha Korkeaoja.

While no vote was taken at the end of the talks, Poland, Greece and Latvia remained vehemently opposed to the compromise, arguing the reform was unfair for their producers.

The EU has come under increasing pressure from its trade rivals to follow through on WTO demands it do away with its protected sugar market pricing system.

A successful WTO challenge by Australia, Brazil and Thailand forced the EU into the cuts to its subsidy system.

To persuade nations that opposed the initial reform plan, Beckett and Fischer Boel presented a compromise that boosts compensation to farmers and industry to ease the pain of the cut in prices and quotas.

Under the old system, production was supported by generous EU subsidies and import tariffs that guaranteed and inflated price for sugar. That will now be phased out over four years starting in 2006.

Farmers and industry will benefit from a 6 billion euro ($7 billion) compensation fund to get out of the sugar business, or to diversify the end use of sugar beets, for such uses as bioethanol for example.

Farmers were not placated. "The reform is too drastic and ... it will wipe out production for many growers," said a statement from COPA-COGECA, umbrella groups that represent Europe's 15 million farmers.

EU sugar prices are more than three times higher than the global market rate. Brussels also pays out export subsidies to get millions of tons of sugar a year off its market.

The changes will render the EU a net importer of sugar. Most imports will likely come from a group of the poorest African producers, the EU said. They will get tariff and duty free access to the EU's sugar market from 2009, under a separate aid-and-trade deal.

However, other African and Caribbean producers will see their preferred access to EU markets at inflated prices phased out. The EU has offered them 40 million euros ($47 million) to help cushion the impact, but Caribbean reaction was furious.

"They are taking from the poor and giving to the rich," said George Bullen, a spokesman for several small Caribbean states. "This is outrageous."

Bullen said Caribbean leaders will take the fight to the WTO talks in Hong Kong.



Protest against alleged Bush bombing plan
Ukraine marks 'orange revolution' anniversary
Merkel named first female chancellor in Germany
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

China: Shrine visit 'pouring salt into open wound'

 

   
 

100 tons of chemicals flowed into river

 

   
 

Xinjiang reports 7th outbreak in 10 days

 

   
 

Buyers of big cars will pay more tax

 

   
 

Number of jobless may peak next year

 

   
 

Man dies despite 5-million-yuan hospital stay

 

   
  US nears 1,000th execution since 1977
   
  Austrian politician wants wider CIA probe
   
  EU strikes landmark sugar reform deal
   
  Violence ebbing ahead of Haiti elections
   
  Colombian volcano spews ashes on town
   
  Tigers to set the course for Sri Lanka's new govt
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 爽爽yin人网| 久久精品麻豆日日躁夜夜躁| 女人18毛片水真多国产| 娇小xxxxx性开放| 久久久综合视频| 樱花www视频| 午夜免费不卡毛片完整版| 韩国三级hd中文字幕好大| 国产精品国产三级国产普通话a | 国产精选之刘婷野战| x8x8在线观看| 柠檬福利第一导航在线| 亚洲精品二三区伊人久久| 豪妇荡乳1一5| 在线电影一区二区| 久久久久人妻精品一区蜜桃| 欧洲多毛裸体xxxxx| 亚洲性色成人av天堂| 激情综合色综合啪啪开心| 免费在线观看亚洲| 高校饥渴男女教室野战| 天堂网在线资源www最新版| 久久精品一品道久久精品9| 欧美中文字幕在线看| 免费观看一级成人毛片| 美女黄网站人色视频免费| 国产精品嫩草影院线路| 中文字幕最新在线| 91精品国产高清久久久久| 老牛精品亚洲成av人片| 国产香蕉在线精彩视频| groupsex娇小紧的5一8| 日本波多野结衣电影| 亚洲精品在线观看视频| 男人的天堂av网站| 国产乱子伦一区二区三区| 3d无尽3d无尽动漫同人| 成人精品一区二区不卡视频| 亚洲人成无码www久久久| 精品视频无码一区二区三区| 扶着大肚子从后面进|