Blair backs Caribbean leaders over EU sugar plan

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised to support a proposal that would ease the impact of the European Union’s planned cut in sugar prices for Caribbean producers by slowly phasing in tariff reforms, the Guyanese government said today.

The EU has proposed to slash the price of sugar by 39% beginning next year, but sugar producers in the 78-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific trade group, or ACP, last week presented a proposal to EU agriculture ministers for a 19% reduction.