The UK-based charity,Oxfam says it does not believe that European Union (EU) proposals to cut sugar prices for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) imports is the right response to reforming its sugar regime.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled that the EU is flouting global trade rules by spending US$2.09B a year to prop up sugar prices. Five million tonnes of European sugar are dumped on world markets every year.
In response the EU has proposed deep cuts that for Guyana would reduce revenue by US$20M next year, another US$20M the following year and a price cut of US$37M for 2007 and thereafter. Caricom producers met last week to find a common position to take to ACP talks in Brussels. Part of their strategy included lobbying aid organisations including Oxfam to consider the impact of the reforms. Foreign Trade Minister Clement Rohee had said it was unfortunate that Oxfam "does not see eye to eye with us in this matter. We need to have greater ...engagement with them."
But senior press officer for Oxfam Amy Barry told Stabroek Business from her London office that Oxfam's position on the EU sugar subsidies has been misrepresented and that is it not calling for free trade in sugar or advocating cuts. She said Oxfam was at meetings in Brussels with ACP reps on Monday and Tuesday where they made their position known. "ACP access is something we want to protect," she said. "The emphasis is not on cutting out the ACP producers but on getting meaningful access to the EU markets to address the needs of least developed countries (LDCs) but not at the expense of ACP producers."
Barry noted that while Oxfam may acknowledge the possibility of transition costs for the ACP, it did not mean the charity was promoting or even accepting this. She understood that the ACP producers were hardly getting rich off EU subsidized imports. She repeated that Oxfam was not advocating a reduction in price cuts or quotas for ACP exporters and instead was calling on the EU to cut heavily subsidised over-production by its own farmers to make way for LDC imports.
She said the issue was complex and suggested Oxfam's position had been misrepresented by lazy reporting or by lack of time and space in the media to give a proper explanation.
She referred to a July 14 press release from Oxfam which said the European Commission's sugar reform proposals would not reduce poverty or achieve higher environmental standards, and would allow continued export dumping on developing countries, thereby undermining poor farmers' livelihoods.
"Today's proposal shows that the EU has shut its ears to the needs of developing countries and placed the interests of big farmers and processing companies ahead of everything else. This plan will not end export dumping and will not solve the problem as we see it," said Jo Leadbeater, Head of Oxfam International's Brussels Office.
Oxfam said it wanted to see, the immediate elimination of EU export subsidies, direct and indirect, leading to the end of EU sugar export dumping; an increase in imports from the poorest countries at remunerative prices and a cut in EU production to eliminate overproduction and allow for increased imports. They estimated this cut would need to be between 33 and 40 per cent. They also called for urgent agreement on an action plan on compensation and transitional arrangements for ACP countries which incur losses due to reform.