Concerned about an inadequate supply of conventional sugar to meet demand of food processors, USDA has increased its quota for imported raw cane sugar by 200,000 tons.
Sugar cane varieties in production are all conventionally bred, while the vast majority of sugar beet growers now use varieties that are genetically engineered to withstand applications of glyphosate herbicide.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently wrote the agency requesting the increase in the sugar tariff-rate quota, concerned about a potential conventional sugar shortfall among food processors seeking to tweak their recipes before Vermont implements a GMO labeling law later this summer.
In a press release, USDA officials said they adjusted their Fiscal Year 2016 tariff-rate quota to maintain an adequate sugar supply in an uncertain market, as required by the Farm Bill.
“This uncertainty is due in part to inaction on (national) GE labeling legislation and lack of consumer information about genetic technology,” the agency said in its press release.
USDA said 60,000 tons of the added raw sugar will come from Mexico, while the remainder will come from World Trade Organization quota holders.
Leaders of the Sweetener Users Association, which represents the major U.S. sugar buyers, said in a press release they’ll continue to monitor the sugar supply in the coming months to assess the need for additional imports.
“This is an important step forward as part of the agency’s mandate to ensure adequate supplies of sugar at reasonable prices,” the association’s press release reads. “Based on market demand, this is a much needed increase.”
Beet sugar industry leaders, however, argue the extra sugar will erode prices of refined product.
“This introduces additional sugar to an already well-supplied market,” said Duane Grant, a Rupert, Idaho, beet grower who is chairman of the Snake River Sugar Cooperative.
Grant said all traces of the GMO trait are removed from sugar in refining, and USDA’s action demonstrates that Vermont has “expropriated the authority of FDA to protect the U.S. food product stream.”
Grant said beet growers submitted comments to the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, which recently completed a review finding GMO technology is safe but hasn’t substantially boosted crop yields. Grant lauded the safety finding but emphasized in the case of beet sugar, GMO technology has led to a doubling of yields since 2008.
Phillip Hayes, with the American Sugar Alliance, which represents both cane and beet sugar producers, said in a press release dumping of subsidized Mexican sugar onto the U.S. market has continued, despite a recent settlement between the countries to prevent it, the world sugar market is unstable and food manufacturers are constantly pursuing angles to reduce prices to sugar farmers, making USDA’s job difficult.
Source: www.capitalpress.com