IDFA Applauds New Reallocation of Sugar TRQs
The United States Trade Representative this week announced the reallocation of almost 90,000 metric tons of tariff-rate quota (TRQ) volume for raw cane sugar. IDFA commends USTR for taking the first steps to ease a market situation that has caused high prices and unstable supplies for industrial sugar users, like ice cream manufacturers and flavored milk processors.
TRQs allow countries to export specific quantities of product to the United States at a relatively low tariff, but when import levels reach a pre-determined threshold, the countries must pay a higher tariff. USTR determined that some countries were not filling their allotments at the lower tariff level and shifted a larger share of the quotas to countries that are willing and able to ship more sugar to the United States.
The previous allocation was squeezing supplies in an already tight sugar market and driving prices higher. As a result, U.S. refined sugar prices have hovered around 54 cents a pound, which is almost double the average world price. For background, read "Sugar Market Update: No Feedstock Flexibility Program for 2010; TRQ Increase Unlikely."
"USTR's reallocation will help to direct sugar quotas to countries that are ready to fill them and provide U.S. manufacturers with much-needed supplies," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also has an opportunity to help improve the sugar market at the beginning of its spring harvest period on April 1. USDA can raise the level of sugar imports to buffer supply shortfalls that might happen before this fall's harvest. IDFA, in conjunction with the Sweetener Users Association, has repeatedly urged USDA to permit roughly 1,000,000 additional short tons raw value of refined sugar imports. (See "IDFA Joins Coalition Urging USDA to Address Sugar Shortage.")
Visit www.sweetenerusers.org for more details on the coalition's advocacy efforts.
Codex Committee Meeting Marks Progress for IDFA Members
In a victory for IDFA, a recent plenary session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems made several strides toward improving the way importing countries assess inspections and certification systems of exporting countries. The committee accepted a draft set of international guidelines that included two specific recommendations by IDFA.
The first recommendation asked for explicit language to guarantee the protection of proprietary business information exchanged during onsite inspections. The second asked the committee to remove specific references to production agriculture industries, including dairy, which incorrectly implied that they might have more problems with inspections.
In addition, IDFA expressed concern about the committee's work on proposed draft principles and guidelines for national food safety control systems, which were echoed by other delegates. The committee pushed these guidelines back to a previous stage and agreed to postpone work until greater consensus can be reached.
A detailed overview of the committee meeting is available here.