| WASHINGTON, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A representative of the
domestic sugar industry told a Senate hearing today that sugar
farmers seek four policy elements in the upcoming Farm Bill,
but that these will work only if the United States ``regains
control of its borders, through resolution of the stuffed
molasses and Mexican access problems.''
One of the main policy elements would be to adopt a form of
``inventory management'' similar to that in place in the 1990
Farm Bill.
Jack Roney, director of economics and policy analysis for
the American Sugar Alliance, testified before the Senate
Agriculture Committee, ``Trade policy problems are at the core
of our (sugar) oversupply situation.'' He reported that
wholesale refined sugar prices have been running at 22-year
lows.
``American consumers have received no benefit from the
disastrously low producer prices for sugar. In fact, grocers
and food manufacturers have continued to raise retail prices
for sugar and sweetened products,'' Roney said.
Addressing the trade policy problems, Roney noted that
under NAFTA and WTO commitments the U.S. must import as much
as 1.5 million tons of sugar per year -- about 15 percent of
our consumption -- whether we need the sugar or not. Further,
Mexico is disputing NAFTA sugar provisions and demanding
unlimited duty-free access to the U.S., he said.
``To make matters worse, U.S. borders no longer effectively
control the entry into the U.S. market of subsidized foreign
sugar outside the quota,'' he said.
A main problem is brought about by a sugar syrup called
``stuffed molasses,'' which is being concocted solely to
circumvent our import quota and being shipped into the U.S.
through Canada and other countries, Roney testified.
He said the industry is urging the committee members to
support legislation to resolve the stuffed molasses
circumvention -- the Breaux-Craig Bill (S.753) -- and to
support Administration efforts to negotiate a workable
solution with Mexico.
Once the U.S. regains control of its borders, Roney said
the industry favors these four elements for sugar policy in
the upcoming Farm Bill:
- Continue the non-recourse loan program.
- Retain the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to limit
imports under the tariff rate quota system, consistent
with WTO and NAFTA import requirements.
- Operate the program at little or, preferably, no cost to
the government.
- Resume an inventory management mechanism. Such a
mechanism would balance domestic sugar marketings with
domestic demand and import requirements, would provide
stable market prices at a level sufficient to avoid sugar
loan forfeitures, and can be administered by the
government at little or no budgetary cost.
In summary, Roney said, ``Since the government requires us
to reserve such a large share of our market for foreign
producers and is currently unable to limit overall sugar and
syrup imports, and because American sugar farmers remain
committed to earning their revenues from the marketplace
rather than from government payments, it is essential that the
government regain control of our borders and resume potential
limits on our sugar marketings.''
For more information about U.S. sugar policy, visit
American Sugar Alliance at http://www.sugaralliance.org
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