SUGAR PRODUCERS could be looking at price cuts of as much as 39% when EU reform proposals are formally launched in June, according to Reuters.

The suggested cuts, leaked in Brussels last night, compare with the 33% contained in the original paper released by the EU Commission last July.

The higher figure, which could transpose into a 42% cut in the beet price, has been made necessary by the recent World Trade Organisation ruling that the EU’s C sugar exports violate international trade rules.

This means the EU will have to greatly reduce its dependence on export subsidies for sugar through a combination of price and quota cuts.

The formal proposals are due to be released by EU farm commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel on June 22, with agreement among farm ministers targeted for November.

A commission spokeswoman today regretted the fact the figures had been leaked, and refused to comment on whether they were accurate.

“But as you know, Mrs Fischer Boel has been on record saying that the 33% price cuts proposed last July were the absolute minimum necessary.”

The Financial Times warns of “a bruising battle among EU member states” if the proposals are confirmed, with the likes of Ireland and Finland fighting for the very survival of their sugar industries.

Less developed countries have also been angered by the scale of the cuts.

“This is a disastrous move that will hurt millions of people in developing countries,” said Phil Bloomer, head of Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair Campaign.

“The sharp price cut will be very damaging for poor African countries that currently rely on access to Europe’s markets at higher than world prices.

“If this proposal goes ahead, factories will close down, workers will lose jobs, families will starve and some of the poorest countries in the world will be robbed of the sweeter future that sugar production could have given them.”