Brussels, 01/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - With the ending of the production quota system at the end of September 2017, the European sugar sector will become very dependent on global trade and will need to be protected by a “safety net”, according to a study published by the European Parliament agriculture committee at the end of June.
The consequence of the removal of production quotas and the minimum purchase price for sugar beet will be to closely link the EU sugar market with the global market. Trade with third countries, including with developing countries will play a “key role” in the market balance, states the study published by the European Parliament on behalf of its agriculture committee. The study authors - the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, National Research Institute, Warsaw - consider that, for this “strategically important” sector, the common agricultural policy (CAP) market policy should “include instruments that allow the maintenance of sugar production”.
The study argues for a “broad set of instruments and regulations (i.e. a safety net)”, including “income support for farmers, regulation of foreign trade, the possibility of intervention, promotion and monitoring of the current market situation”. It sets out a range of measures to ensure that the cultivation of sugar beet and sugar production are maintained in the EU: - direct payments linked closely to the area of the cultivation of sugar beet to stabilise farm incomes; - countercyclical payments, income insurance, or combinations of these instruments; - support for investments; - strengthening the position of growers on the food supply chain (“obligation of written contracts between growers and sugar producers”); - income risk management toolkit whose design is based on Canadian AgriStability programme. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)