EU blames Brazil for low sugar prices
In response to Brazil's threat of a WTO action against the EU sugar regime, the European Commission has accused Brazil of being responsible for recent low world sugar prices. Speaking at the Agra Europe Outlook Conference, Lars Hoelgaard, the Director for Crops in DG VI, pointed out that 'Brazil has been expanding its own production of sugar dramatically over the last ten years' and was now looking to increase its exports to an estimated 12 million tonnes from between 2 to 3 million tonnes. He maintained that Brazilian production is 'clearly outstripping the increase in demand and depressing prices and that's creating a further imbalance'. In contrast, the Commission has highlighted how its own export policy for sugar is entirely within WTO rules. Comment: The EU's sugar export may be entirely within WTO rules but this is largely because the rules were structured to accommodate the 5 to 6 million tonnes which the EU has been exporting to the world market in recent years, despite the EU being one of the highest cost sugar producers in the world.
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
2002
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/52753 http://agritrade.cta.int/Back-issues/Agriculture-monthly-news-update/2002/June-2002 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|