African,
Caribbean and Pacific
Sugar Group
Overview
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ACP Sugar Group
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The ACP/EU Sugar Protocol and SPS
Sugar trade
between African Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) and the European
Union is regulated by two trade agreements: The ACP/EU Sugar Protocol
and The Agreement on Special Preferential Sugar (SPS).
The Sugar Protocol is a trade agreement of indefinite duration between the European Union and the nineteen ACP states which are signatory to it, which is succinctly summarized in the first paragraph of Article 1 of the Protocol: "The Community undertakes for an indefinite period to purchase and import, at guaranteed prices, specific quantities of cane sugar, raw or white, which originate in the ACP states and which these States undertake to deliver to it."
The Sugar Protocol is a trade agreement of indefinite duration between the European Union and the nineteen ACP states which are signatory to it, which is succinctly summarized in the first paragraph of Article 1 of the Protocol: "The Community undertakes for an indefinite period to purchase and import, at guaranteed prices, specific quantities of cane sugar, raw or white, which originate in the ACP states and which these States undertake to deliver to it."
Under the Special
Preferential Sugar agreement, if there is a deficit of raw sugar to
meet the needs of EU sugar refiners, the European Community undertakes
to open a special tariff quota for the import of raw cane sugar for
refining originating in ACP states, on the basis of the needs
determined by the Commission (in accordance with the "bilan").
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about the ACP/EU Sugar Protocol and SPS
Socio-economic
importance
Sugar industries
fulfil many economic and social roles in ACP countries; thus these
industries are described as "multifunctional".
Many ACP economies
are highly dependent on their sugar industries; in some countries,
sugar exports under the Protocol account for over one quarter of GDP,
and no less than 85% of total agricultural exports (see ACP sugar
statistics).
Sugar revenue
permeates through the whole economy, via field and factory operations,
creating vital multiplier effects. In Mauritius, for example, it is
aptly said that sugar "irrigates" the economy. Many activities in the
service sector rely on the sugar sector. Sugar industries also perform
vital social and political rôles in ACP countries, notably in the
provision of education, health, welfare, environmental and other social
services, particularly in rural areas where such services would
otherwise be scarce. In other sugar producing countries of the world,
such social services are provided by the state, or not at all.
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about socio-economic importance
EU sugar
policy
Sugar is produced
in ACP countries because it is the activity best suited to their
climatic conditions. It has had a centuries-old place in the European
market and has had a significant influence on the histories and culture
of European and ACP countries. Since 1975, ACP sugar has been an
integral part of the sugar régime of the European Union. Thus
ACP suppliers to the EU market enjoy many of the same rights and
obligations as those in the European beet sugar industry.
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about the EU sugar policy
©
Copyright 2005 ACP