Beet growers vow to fight EU reforms
Beet growers have called on the Government to fight an all-out campaign to reject the proposals which call for a 37% beet price cut by 2007 and a European quota reduction of 16% by 2008. The IFA warned that this would reduce output value to farmers by €26m, making beet growing totally uneconomic.
Sugar Beet Section chairman Jim O’Regan said growers are facing the greatest challenge ever in the history of the sugar industry.
The EU reform proposals are being driven by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agenda, and will wipe out the sugar beet industry here, he said.
John Dillon, president, will launch the IFA campaign at a meeting in Mallow, Co Cork, tomorrow night. Further meetings will be held in Carlow on Wednesday night and in Ballinaboola, Co Wexford, on Thursday night.
The aim is to update farmers on the threat to the industry, worth €75m annually to 3,800 beet growers and €140m in total to the economy. The support of everybody dependant on the sector is to be sought.
Factories in Mallow and Carlow employ 450 workers directly and another 200 during the annual three and a half month processing campaign, now in full swing.
Some 240 hauliers will this year transport 1.3 million tonnes of beet to the plants to manufacture 199,208 tonnes of sugar - Ireland’s quota.
The IFA estimates that up to 8,000 jobs depend directly and indirectly on sugar production in Ireland.
Even after proposed compensation, it said beet growers’ income would almost halve.
Income per tonne will go from €19/t in 2004 to €9.70/t in 2007.
Irish Sugar chief executive Dr Seán Brady said the reform proposals will, if implemented as presented, mean radical and significant change to the beet growing and sugar processing industry in Ireland. He said the company will continue to monitor the progress on negotiating an agreed reform package while voicing its strong opposition at both Government and European level to the proposals as currently presented.
Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan told Deputies Joan Burton and David Stanton in written replies to Dáil queries last week that reform of the EU sugar regime has come high on the EU agenda because of developments at WTO level, other international pressures and having regard to the significant reforms already agreed for other CAP sectors in 2003 and 2004. Legislative proposals for reform have not yet been put forward. However, the EU Commission outlined its broad proposals for reform of the regime in a communication to the Council and the European Parliament last July.
At that time it was made clear that the proposals would have serious repercussions for the Irish industry at both growing and processing level and, therefore, they were not acceptable in their current form.
“The commission’s proposals are expected to be discussed further at the Council of Agriculture Ministers next month. It will be my objective to protect the viability of sugar beet growing and processing in this country,” she said.
