Cane Sugar

08 Jan 2015
Ms Diane Abbott MP

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect cane sugar refiners (a) in East London and (b) elsewhere in the UK following the lifting of beet sugar quotas in 2017.

Answered by George Eustice MP on 14 January 2015

During negotiations of the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy, which led to the agreement to end sugar beet production quotas in 2017, the UK pushed for the full liberalisation of the sugar regime in order to allow the sugar cane refiners to compete with the beet producers on an equal footing.Disappointingly, there was insufficient support from other Member States to secure the necessary changes as part of that exercise. However, we remain committed to working with the European Commission to address this issue through forthcoming EU trade agreements.

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