Bitter battle over Caribbean sugar

Black information Link - Albert Yanney - Wednesday 19 April 2006

CARIBBEAN SUGAR hangs in the balance today as trade talks with Europe enter a crucial phase.

Tens of thousands of jobs are at stake as representatives of the Caribbean's sugar-producing nations negotiate with the European Union (EU) over sugar production.

The coalition of Caribbean governments (CARICOM) are currently in their second day of talks in Barbados. Tensions are high with the Caribbean set to lose US$100m a year.

Island economies have already been hit hard with the axing of preferential trade arrangements over bananas. The EU enforced a new banana import regime from 1st January this year, imposing a duty-free quota of 775,000 tonnes.

repercussions

Caribbean agriculturists were left despondent and anxious on hearing shake-up plans for West Indian sugar.

The EU is proposing a unilateral 36% cut in the price paid for sugar, leading to lose $95 million per annum.

Thousands of workers could lose jobs and the impact of the transition will have severe short-term economic repercussions, leading to social unrest.

Amos Tincani, the head of the EU office in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, sent out a stark message to the country’s sugar-traders with an April 30th deadline for Barbados to submit an effective 'diversification' strategy or risk losing a budgeted compensation of 2.074 million Euros.

April 30th is also the deadline for all CARICOM members to submit viable strategies in order to share in the $40 million earmarked for the 18 African, Caribbean and, Pacific countries affected by the reforms.

Guyana and Jamaica are at present the only two nations to have submitted transitionary plans to the EU.

Erskine Griffith, Barbados’ Minister for Agriculture, insisted that a viable strategy would be implemented before the deadline but insists Barbados will be moving away from the export of bulk sugar to the EU market and towards producing specialised sugars, pharmaceuticals, electricity and ethanol.

The EU commissioners also unveiled a proposal of 190 million Euros per year as compensation for 2007-2013. Caribbean governments are also wrangling over the financial and environmental effects of utilising sugar cane as a source of electricity for the Caribbean.