Brussels, 22/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption, on Thursday 22 March, of the report by Friedrich-Wilhelm Gräfe zu Baringdorf (Greens/EFA, Germany), the European Parliament's committee on agriculture approved the proposal granting Bulgaria and Romania a tariff quota for imports of raw cane sugar intended for refining. The quotas will by open for the 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09 marketing years only. The plenary vote on this report will be held on 23 April in Strasbourg.
The EP agriculture committee has adopted only one amendment to the proposal (which dates back to December 2006), making it clear that, from the 2009/2010 marketing year on, no additional tariff quotas will be granted unless they are within the Everything But Arms initiative or the privileged market access enjoyed by ACP countries. MEPs take the view that the Commission's proposal is an exemption to the new rules in the sugar sector that should be limited in time. Reform in this sector aims to reduce the quantity of sugar produced in the Union to the advantage of zero duty preferential imports from ACP countries, India and the Western Balkans within the Everything But Arms initiative. Import quotas proposed amount to 149,061 tonnes for Bulgaria and 247,227 tonnes for Romania for 2006/07, and 198,748 tonnes for Bulgaria and 329,636 tonnes for Romania for the two harvest years 2007/08 and 2008/2009. All these quotas, which are subject to a €98 duty per tonne, aim to meet the cane sugar supply needs identified by Bulgarian and Romanian industry before accession to the EU. (lc)