The ending of European Union (EU) sugar quotas and increased duty-free imports from October 2015 will have a “devastating” impact on African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) sugar-producing countries, Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett has warned.
“Most studies conducted so far point to the fact that the abolition of the EU quotas will result in market volatility and uncertainty resulting inter alia from the link between domestic prices and world market prices,” she said, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rogrigues-Birkett was at the time reporting to the ACP Ministerial Council on the deliberations of the 4th ACP Ministerial Committee on Sugar held in Equatorial Guinea earlier this week.
“The European Commission’s own impact study predicts a 45% fall in prices compared to the market prices reported in September 2012. Another study concludes that ACP countries stand to lose 850 million Euros over the period 2019/2020,” she said. “Such a situation could jeopardise ACP countries’ efforts and investments to render their industries more competitive and call into question the coherence of EU policies in the fields of agriculture, trade and development,” she said. “Indeed, most if not all ACP countries would be unable to supply the EU market if prices were to fall to such low levels,” she added.
According to the statement, the ministers agreed that it was important to establish that the traditional supply needs remain at 2.5 million and that measures such as an appropriate tariff be maintained to protect the value of ACP preferential access. It was also agreed to oppose calls for an increase in the current EU quotas.
The ministers mandated the Sugar Sub-Committee scale up its discussions with the EU Parliament and Council.
Rodrigues-Birkett also reported that the ministers were concerned that the budget for the Accompany-ing Measurers Support Programme (AMSP) has been downsized for 2012 and 2013 and they mandated the Sugar-Sub-Committee to follow up on the matter with the European Commission, as a decrease in allocations would make the adaptation process untenable and difficult. Similarly, there was a need to ensure that the Commission promptly re-allocated any unutilised funds. Some delegations also complained about the unilateral manner in which the EU delegation in their respective countries was selecting projects, the release said.
According to the release, the ACP Secretariat was requested to initiate discussions with the EC on ways and means by which an Integrated Commodity Development Pro-gramme could be designed and funded under the next Multiannual Financial Framework at the end of the current AMSP.
The ministers noted that the Mid-Term Workshop on the ACP Sugar Research Programme had offered the opportunity to review ongoing projects, to define the activities to be conducted during the forthcoming period (2013-2014) in the centres and to discuss prospects for a possible ACP Sugar Research Programme II after 2014, the statement said.
They also agreed that it was imperative that the sharing of data and information under this programme be extended to all ACP States, it said.
