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ACP ministerial meeting on sugar opens today in Guyana

May 18, 2009 News



…Agri Minister says EU price cuts will hamper country’s ability to deliver goods and services

The eleventh Special ACP ministerial conference on sugar will open today in Guyana.
Hosted under the theme, “Adapting to Sugar Arrangements under EPAs’, the conference will bring together participants from the Sugar Producing and exporting states in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).
Key stakeholders of the industry from European and other regional private sector bodies and groups in the ACP will also attend the conference.
An estimated 100 delegates are expected to attend the event, which will be hosted at the Guyana International Convention Centre.
The conference will conclude on Thursday.
Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank e Bainimarama, will attend the conference.
This conference is significant because the ACP-EU Sugar Protocol comes to an end on September 30.
The agreement has allowed ACP nations to export sugar to the European Union on preferential terms for over 30 years.
The terms and conditions for a new sugar arrangement are currently being discussed with the European Commission at all ACP levels.
Last year, the performance of the sugar industry in Guyana was described as ‘mixed’ and an area of deep concern, Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud had said.
This concern mounted with the non-commissioning of the new factory at Skeldon, which meant that some 60,000 tonnes of sugarcane could not be harvested for sugar production.
Significant sugar was lost during the commissioning process in 2008 and the final production for the industry was 226,267 tonnes of the targeted 279,000 tonnes.
The Minister told the media that the ‘road ahead for sugar’ would not be ‘smooth sailing’ as the EU price cuts will take effect from the last quarter of 2009.
This will result in Guysuco’s revenue declining significantly.
On Friday last, Persaud said that Guyana is too dependent on sugar and rice and the EU price cuts will have a severe impact on the country’s ability to deliver goods and services.

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