Caribbean sugar producers have urged a review of the region’s sugar market saying that current demand can be easily met by regional suppliers.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC), which represents CARICOM sugar producers, noted that on September 7th, it had issued a position paper on the regional integration of the sugar market. Traditionally, most CARICOM produced sugar is shipped to the European Union for refining, while much of the region’s demand has been met by extra-regional imported sugar.
“The paper suggests that the 300K ton demand for sugar in CARICOM can easily be met by supply from the region’s industries which produce more than 450K tons of the sweetener annually,” the statement said. It pointed out that currently around 200K tons of this demand is met from imports from non-CARICOM countries, which enjoy tariff-free access due to the differentiation of white and brown sugar under CARICOM rules.
