Battle lines drawn on sugar industry talks

BATTLE lines will be drawn in Luxembourg tonight as the negotiations on the radical reform proposals for Europe’s sugar industry enter a crucial stage.

Key elements are a 39% price cut in the institutional price for sugar, a corresponding reduction in the minimum price for sugar beet and 60% compensation to farmers for the cut. A voluntary restructuring scheme is proposed to encourage factory closures and renunciation of quota.

It is generally accepted the proposals would devastate the Irish sugar industry which involves 3,700 beet growers and 185 full-time and 70 seasonal employees at the country’s sole sugar processing plant in Mallow and a range of other service providers including hauliers.