Brazil and other low-cost sugar manufacturers will benefit from a planned overhaul of Europe's sugar policy at the expense of the world's poorest states, a group of Third World producers said today.
This month, the European Commission proposed an overhaul of EU sugar policy, recommending huge price cuts for a regime barely changed in 35 years. Overall EU sugar production would also fall, as would subsidised exports.
The reform aims to slash internal EU sugar prices by around 40 per cent. At present, the lavish support system keeps EU prices at more than three times the world market.
Such a drastic cutwould spell disaster for nations that were hoping to enjoy high prices and more duty-free access to Europe under the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative, according to a group of 27 least developed countries (LDCs) that produce sugar.
"The world's poorest countries have been picked again to be the losers, to the benefit of the world's largest and lowest -cost producers," the LDC Brussels Sugar Group said.
"The real winners will be the international sugar power houses, such as Brazil, that will quickly use their extremely low production costs to fill the upcoming production gaps in the EU, before the LDCs have even been able enjoy their duty-free access," it said in a statement.
EU member states are now discussing the Commission's proposal, which calls for the changes to start in July 2005, one year before current policy expires. So far, most of the bloc's 25 countries want reform to begin in 2006, at the very earliest.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has told the European Commission that the proposed reform of sugar production laws were "unacceptable" to Ireland.
Ireland is among a number of EU member-states opposed to the changes, which they claim would cause massive job losses and the collapse of national sugar industries.