Knight: European Union did not stand with us on sugar. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ANGERED BY the European Union's (EU) recent 36 per cent cut in the price of sugar from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) producers, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, K.D. Knight, says Jamaica will not side with the EU in upcoming World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations.
"When the ACP needed the EU's help in respect of their development concerns re sugar, that help was not to be found. Neither was there help to be found in the EU's proposal to the WTO in respect of small vulnerable economies," Mr. Knight told a meeting of ACP Ministers with EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, yesterday.
Helen Clark, New Zealand's Prime Minister, yesterday warned that the EU needed to offer more compensation to countries hit by its new sugar production reforms, or their frustration could affect global trade talks.
The New Zealand Prime Minister said representatives of some sugar-producing countries, especially in the Caribbean, had complained at the recent meeting of Common-wealth states in Malta they saw little point in joining the push for a new World Trade Organisation deal.
"People round the table were saying, 'why should we even bother with (the WTO round) if this is how we are being treated'," Clark said, when asked about her views on the EU's sugar reforms during a visit to Brussels.
"Do we want sugar to scuttle the negotiations? I don't think so," she said. "I believe some further compensation will be needed."
AGRI SECTOR IN JEOPARDY
Knight's anger was sparked by last week's EU policy decisions on banana and sugar which will harm Jamaican agriculture. These decisions were made following WTO rulings against previous EU policy, intended to support ACP producers.
In relation to banana imports the EU took a yet-to-be-ratified decision last week to fix a low tariff of 176 tonnes which will open the market up for greater competition by South American producers. And the ACP duty-free quota of 775,000 tonnes will reduce the number of licences available for Jamaica's duty-free banana exports to the EU.
The sixth WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Hong Kong from December 13-18. The conference is the organisation's highest decision-making body and meets every two years.
Additional reporting by Reuters news agency
