| Mexico could take retaliatory measures against the US if it
continues to waver over Mexico's allotted sugar quotas, a high-ranking
trade official warned on Monday.
Last month, the US allotted Mexico a sugar quota of 116,000 tonnes
beginning Oct 1, but the US has yet to supply Mexico with a schedule of
shipping patterns necessary to complete the shipments, said Luis de la
Calle, Mexico's deputy trade minister.
Mexico is the only country exporting sugar to the US not to have been
provided with shipping patterns, said Mr de la Calle. He warned that
Mexico could respond by delaying the allotment of quotas on agricultural
products imported from the US.
"Playing with shipping patterns is not wise," he said.
"We also have quotas for US imports."
The delay comes as Mexico and the US prepare to go to a dispute
settlement panel over sugar exports. Mexico called for an arbitration
panel to be set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta)
in August after the US refused to up its imports of Mexican sugar from
25,000 to some 550,000 tonnes.
The two countries are disputing the interpretation of the opening of
the sugar industry agreements set under Nafta. According to the Mexicans,
they should be able to export their entire sugar surplus, estimated at
some 550,000 tonnes, as of Oct 1, 2000.
The US points to a side agreement signed by the trade ministers of both
countries which takes into account Mexican consumption of high fructose
corn syrup, a cheaper sugar substitute, in calculating its surplus. Using
that calculation, Mexico's surplus is 116,000 tonnes.
Mexico argues however, that the side agreement was not ratified by its
Congress and is therefore not valid.
Mr De la Calle did not, however, discount reaching a settlement with
the US over the sugar dispute before the panel made a decision. He said
Mexico had already modified its position by seeking to reach a temporary
two to three year agreement instead of an original eight-year deal. Under
Nafta all barriers to sugar exports end in 2008. |