SUGAR: MINISTERS AGREE OH SUGAR REFORM WITH 36% PRICE CUT

摘要

The EU's Agriculture Ministers reached consensus on the reform of the EU sugar regime on November 24, after a marathon two-day negotiating session finally ended the tug-of-war between the sugar-producing nations and the diehard reformers. The final package, agreed by what UK Agriculture Secretary Margaret Beckett referred to as an "overwhelming majority of member states", involves a lower cut in the price of sugar (36% instead of the 39% originally proposed) and higher compensation for sugar producers (64.2% instead of 60%). The new regime, which will apply from July 1,2006, will bring in the first major cuts in EU sugar subsidies in almost 40 years. EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said the hard-won final reform package was both "reasonable and widely supported".