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WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- James Johnson, president
of United States Beet Sugar Association and a member of the
American Sugar Alliance, said today that it's time to set the
record straight on just who is the ``David'' and who is the
``Goliath'' in a case involving circumvention of U.S. trade laws.
Johnson said, ``A high-profile public relations firm and a
professional lobbying group here have peddled the notion that a
company evading U.S. quota laws is really a 'little David'
fighting a 'Goliath.' The fact of the matter is, the 'little
David' is part of an international conglomerate involving
agricultural trade and financial services, E D & F Man, Inc.,
headquartered in London, with 3,700 employees in 60 countries.''
Johnson said, ``On the other side of this issue we've got
family-owned beet farms in Michigan and other upper Midwest states
that are fighting for their very lives because they've seen prices
they receive for their crop drop by almost 26 percent since the
start of the 1996 Farm Bill. Part of this drop is unquestionably
due to circumvention of import quota laws by this conglomerate's
'stuffed molasses' scheme. This practice is undermining the
livelihoods of cane growers as well.''
He said, ``Not only is this hurting American sugar farmers, who
are among the most efficient in the world, but it is also hurting
the legitimate quota- holding exporting countries in 40 other
countries who want their rightful share of the U.S. sugar
market.'' He noted, too, that U.S. sugar policy is in complete
compliance with World Trade Organization rules.
Involved is a customs battle, now in the courts and being
considered by the U.S. Congress, over so-called ``stuffed
molasses.'' A company in Windsor, Ontario -- Canadian Blending and
Processing -- concocts a syrupy mixture using highly subsidized
sugar imported from the world dump market, ships the mixture to a
company in Michigan -- Heartland By-Products -- where the sugar is
extracted from the molasses syrup and sold on the open market. The
liquid is sent back to Canada to start the ``stuffing'' process
all over again. Both companies have operated as wholly-owned
subsidiaries of E D & F Man, Inc.
In addition to its international holdings, E D & F Man
stated in a document it was using to lobby Congress that it has
offices in New York, Chicago, Hoboken, New Orleans, Atlanta and
Houston, and operates 35 production facilities in 23 U.S. states.
The global conglomerate said that in 1998 it had approximately
1,500 employees in the United States, about 300 of them in New
York City.
On behalf of American sugar farmers and processors, Johnson
said, ``There is no question but that this scheme is designed to
do exactly what it is doing--evade U.S. import quota laws, and I
would hardly refer to this sophisticated multi-national
conglomerate as a beleaguered 'little David.'''
He said, ``The ruse being used by this company subverts the
integrity of existing international trade agreements and
jeopardizes industry support for -- and ultimate success of --
future trade negotiations.''
Johnson said, ``America's sugar farmers are efficient and
produce sugar for American consumers at about 20 percent below
what it costs in other developed countries. American sugarbeet
farmers are the lowest-cost producers among the 35 nations that
grow sugarbeets. In terms of minutes worked to buy a pound of
sugar, American consumers are the third lowest in the world, with
2.3 minutes of work to buy a pound of sugar, ranking only slightly
above Switzerland and Singapore. American sugar farmers can
compete with any farmers around the world. But our farmers can't
be expected to compete with either the treasuries of foreign
governments or multi-national companies that try to pull schemes
to circumvent U.S. laws. Devastating ploys such as the stuffed
molasses ruse can threaten American sugar farmers' admirable
record.'' |