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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Jack Roney,
director of economics and policy analysis for the American Sugar
Alliance (ASA), said today use of sugar to produce ethanol could be
a long-term solution for surplus sugar problems in Mexico, and
possibly contribute toward a resolution of U.S. and Mexican surplus
sugar concerns.
Roney said the sugar-produced ethanol could be especially
environmentally beneficial in Mexico as an octane enhancer, where 60
to 70 percent of the gasoline uses MTBE. MTBE, which is also used in
the United States as an octane and oxygen enhancer, has been found
to be a polluter of groundwater supplies. The additive is being
phased out in California and other U.S. regions, but has not yet
been recognized in Mexico as a groundwater pollutant.
Roney made the remarks at the annual International Sweetener
Symposium, sponsored by ASA. The panel on which Roney appeared also
included Timothy Galvin, Administrator, Foreign Agricultural
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Dave Juday, senior
analyst, World Perspectives, Inc.
Galvin, referring to USDA's recent purchase of surplus sugar and
announcement of a program known as PIK, or payment in kind, to
reduce surpluses, said these give only temporary price relief. As
for long-term relief from ethanol, he said he thought the potential
in the United States is minimal, but could have ``a major potential
role in Mexico as a substitute (for MTBE) octane enhancer.''
Galvin also said that when the annual tariff rate quota is set
for sugar October 1, ``it is not a given that we will have
non-recourse loans.'' Non-recourse loans, which are traditional in
agricultural programs, permits a farmer to repay a government loan
with the crop that has been put up as collateral if prices fall
below a forfeiture level. Under the 1996 Farm Bill, sugar can have
non-recourse loans only when imports are expected to exceed 1.5
million tons.
Juday said that with a new farm bill, ``sugar reform is
inevitable.'' A driving force for sugar reform, he said, will be
international trade agreement negotiations.
Roney said he differed with Juday on this point. Roney recalled
that in a panel discussion the day before, policy experts from
Washington, Paris and Rome all said that instead of becoming more
free trade oriented, the world appears to be moving toward more
protection for agriculture.
Juday said the other driving force for changes in U.S. sugar
policy is ``government held stocks of sugar.'' He said the
payment-in-kind program is ``just a short-term solution. The final
answer has not yet been developed.''
The Symposium concludes Wednesday.
The American Sugar Alliance is a national coalition of producers,
processors and refiners of sugarbeets, sugarcane, and corn for
sweetener.
For more information on U.S. Sugar policy, visit http://www.sugaralliance.org/
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