CARICOM'S big EU battle for sugar
`Catastrophic loss’ feared
By Rickey Singh
Guyana Chronicle
July 9, 2004
ST. GEORGE'S - The governments of the Caribbean Community are rallying behind the sugar exporting member countries of the region in a coordinated battle to stave off a "catastrophic loss" from proposed cuts in the price paid for sugar imports by the European Union (EU).
The 'red light' signal from the Commission of the EU suggests that the envisaged loss to the economies of the sugar exporting CARICOM states that include primarily Guyana, Jamaica and Belize, could be as high as US$90 million over a three-year period commencing in 2005.
Guyana stands to be the most affected casualty by a projected loss of some US$37 million over the three-period at a time when it is investing heavily in the modernisation of its sugar industry.
With the future of the region's vital agricultural sector one of the major issues for their 25th annual summit that concluded in Grenada on Wednesday evening, the Community leaders considered the social and economic consequences of a proposed 37 per cent slash in sugar price on the European market.
Their firm unanimous stand underscored an "outright rejection" of the European Commission's proposed 37 per cent reduction in the guaranteed price for sugar supplied to the EU market under the current European Union-African, Caribbean and Pacific Sugar Protocol.
In language that captured the mood of an intense plenary session that also dealt with the future of agriculture and food security, the Community deemed the cut in sugar price as "a betrayal" of the firm commitments and guarantees given by the EU at the time of the negotiation of the Sugar Protocol back in 1975.
Recognising that sugar, which explains so much of the social and political history of the Caribbean region, is also a major source of employment and foreign exchange for some of the CARICOM states, the Heads of Government called on the European Commission to "withdraw" the proposals for reduction in the guaranteed price for sugar supplied under the ACP-EU Protocol.
It was disclosed by conference sources that a ministerial delegation is likely to travel to Brussels to engage the Commission in discussions on why the its proposals should be withdrawn, particularly in the context of the European Union's expressed commitment with the recent launch of the EU-Caribbean Economic Partnership Agreement.
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, who has lead responsibility among CARICOM leaders for the region's banana industry, had earlier pointed to the harm already done to the economies of the banana-exporting countries, especially of the Windward Islands sub-region as a result of changes in market arrangements in the EU for bananas from the Caribbean.
The Community leaders endorsed a strategy recommended by an International Banana Conference held in Kingstown, St. Vincent last month to secure an "adequately preferential regime in the EU that would allow the sale of bananas in Europe on a "viable and sustained basis".
In addressing the bigger picture of regional agriculture for sustainable growth and development and with a particular focus also on food security, the President of Guyana addressed some of the challenges to be overcome as a matter of urgency.
Among them, said the Guyanese Head of State, who has lead responsibility for regional agriculture development and the environment, is an urgent need to significantly slash an estimated US$1.2 Billion the region currently spends on food imports.
Following their deliberations on the challenges for the region's sugar and banana exports the leaders focused more generally on the repositioning of Caribbean agriculture within the framework of the CARICOM Regional Transformation Programme (RTP), the conference endorsed a range of recommendations for action at the national/sub-regional level.