| SUN VALLEY, IDAHO -A panelist told participants at the International
Sweetener Symposium here today that the domestic sugar industry-farmers
and processors-must "aggressively work on" five specific areas
to address the "broad spectrum of issues challenging the domestic
sugar industry."
The remarks were made by Ray VanDriessche, president of the American
Sugarbeet Growers Association, appearing as a panelist on a session
devoted to "Sugar Policy-Short-term Challenges and Long-Term
Solutions" at the annual Symposium, sponsored by the American Sugar
Alliance.
"First, we must stop quota circumvention," VanDriessche said.
"Unless tariff rate quota circumvention schemes-such as stuffed
molasses and other syrups for desugarization and the gaming of the
re-export program and subsidized surplus sugar from Mexico-are addressed,
no sugar program will work and no domestic industry can be
sustained," he said.
"Second, we must not negotiate trade agreements that will
oversupply the market," VanDriessche said. "We are already the
fourth-largest importer of sugar in the world. If, through trade
negotiations, access is granted beyond the needs of our market, then, once
again, no program will work and no industry can be sustained."
As for trade agreements, VanDriessche said sugar should not be part of
any bilateral or regional agreement because the problems in sugar are
global and must, therefore, be addressed in a multilateral context. He
said, "Making concessions in regional trade agreements undermines a
country's leverage to negotiate at the WTO."
Third, the industry needs to increase demand and defend the use of
sugar as part of a well-balanced diet. Fourth, supply and demand must be
in balance, he said. "Once our quota circumvention problems are
addressed, the industry must balance supplies with demand.This is the
proposal we have put forth to the Congress, and we are confident that the
Congress will embrace this policy," VanDriessche said.
Fifth, the industry must strive to increase efficiency even more, he
said, noting that the beet industry is in its final phase of a transition
from a stock company-oriented industry to being dominated by farmer-owned
cooperatives.
Appearing on the panel with VanDriessche were James Terrill, executive
vice president, U.S. Sugar Corporation; Tim Hume, president-elect,
National Corn Growers Association; and Sarah Fogarty, director of
international trade, Grocery Manufacturers of America.
The American Sugar Alliance is a national coalition of growers,
processors and refiners of sugarbeets, sugarcane and corn for sweetener. |