British sugar interests are “being crushed under the iron heel of Brussels”
The Agriculture spokesman for the UK Independence Party, Stuart Agnew MEP responds to the Lords Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy EU Sub-Committee report on sugar, released today (4.9.12), which suggests that consumers are getting a raw deal from the EU on sugar:
Mr Agnew said:
“Sugar consumers cannot be that unhappy because they are demanding more and more sugar, to such an extent that supply is being outstripped. The EU’s reaction to this is to make it prohibitively difficult, via tariffs, for London based Tate & Lyle to get the raw cane sugar it needs to maintain the critical mass required for 24/7 processing. This will force its closure.
“Meanwhile highly efficient British sugar beet growers and their processor British Sugar, having obeyed all the EU sugar reform rules to the letter, will now find themselves at a severe disadvantage against other EU countries, if quotas are abolished before they have time to re-invest in expansion. Once again, British interests are being crushed under the iron heel of Brussels.”
Details of the Lords Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy EU Sub-Committee report on sugar: