Brussels, 25 January 2013/ ACP: The ACP Sugar Group is pleased with the vote on the Single CMO Regulation in the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on 23 January 2013, which supports the extension of the current quota provisions until 30 September 2020.  The extension of sugar quotas will help to ensure fair, stable and reasonable remunerative EU sugar market prices to ACP and LDC exporters under Economic Partnership Agreements and the Everything But Arms Initiative.

The ACP Group called for the long term predictability with continued preference assured to them by tariff barriers and robust mechanism for EU sugar market management.  Several ACP/LDC suppliers wish to continue to export raw cane sugar for refining. The ACP is therefore also calling for conditions which can support a viable EU sugar refining industry to provide a dedicated entry to the EU market and to maintain a plurality of potential buyers for EPA/EBA sugar. Thus, the ACP does not favour the reinstatement of relinquished beet quotas and is opposed to any allowance of duty free imports from other third parties as this will erode ACP/LDC preference

The ACP Sugar Group has recently mounted a strong lobbying action at the political and diplomatic levels and is pleased that the results so far have been positive.  The Chairman of the ACP Sugar Subcommittee H.E. Ambassador Gomes, Ambassador of Guyana, said: “This is indeed a positive development but we have a long way to go.  I seek the support of the European Parliament and the European Council as the final decision is taken on this critical issue.  It is worth mentioning that coherence between various EU policies, namely trade, development and agriculture, is a core condition of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement and  the EPA’s  The achievement so far supports the essential coherence of the  EU relationship with ACP and LDC countries and in furtherance of these objectives  it is crucial that EU institutions work to sustain the beet sugar quota arrangements within  the Single Common Market Organisation for sugar until 2020.”

For further information please contact Ms Josephine Latu-Sanft, Press Attachée at the ACP Secretariat, Brussels. Telephone: 02-743.06.17. Email: [email protected]  .