Free sugar market will happen – Lamy

By FWi staff

FREE-MARKET access to the EU for sugar from the worlds poorest nations is going to happen, trade commissioner Pascal Lamy said this week.

However, the timetable for implementing it will slip by five years.

Addressing a European parliament agriculture committee debate on his “Everything But Arms” (EBA) proposal, Mr Lamy admitted the commission had had to re-examine the plan in the face of concerted industry criticism.

The EBA plan seeks duty-free access for the worlds 48 least-developed countries.

“We are still committed to full liberalisation for these countries. There will not be any exceptions,” he said.

“But we are going to play with the timetable, to bring it into line with the reform of the EUs sugar regime.”

While that has not been finalised, a five-year roll-over is the most likely, suggesting the EBA initiative will not start to bite until 2006 to 2008, compared with the original plan to phase it in over the next three years.

Mr Lamy also insisted that, contrary to sugar industry claims, the impact of opening the market in this way would be small.

“We must keep a sense of proportion,” he said. The 48 countries concerned produced 2m tonnes and imported another 1m tonnes.

Exports to the EU amounted to just 300,000t compared with EU production of 17m tonnes.

“If they expanded this by, say 30%, that would mean another 100,000t coming in, nothing like the 3m-5m tonnes I keep hearing about.”