Exporters want access to protected markets Australia, backed by Thailand, Brazil and other major sugar exporters, is spearheading a campaign to break into protected markets - notably in the European Union, US and Japan. "We will be lobbying hard for increased access to the U.S. and EU markets," Warren Males,chief economist at the Queensland Sugar Corporation, told Reuters. Speaking during an International Sugar Organisation (ISO) seminar in London thisweek, Males said that EU and US protectionism distorted trade and depressed producer prices. Thailand's deeply indebted and crisis-stricken sugar producers strongly supported Australia's campaign to put sugar high on the agricultural agenda in Seattle.

"The establishment of the Global Alliance for Sugar Trade Reform, under the Australian initiative is to be highly commended," Saeng Sa-Nguanruang, General Manager of the Thai Cane and Sugar Corporation, told the sugar seminar. But a senior EU official noted that Australia had invested in doubling sugar output over the past 10 years and becoming one of the world's top four exporters. Brazilian exports have surged sixfold in the 1990s and are widely seen as a major cause of depressed world prices. "The EU is a stable sugar supplier," the EU official said. ISO REPORT ON GATT The ISO report said Uruguay Round Commitments have had "only few and minor impacts on the world sugar market," adding that deregulation and privatisation probably had a much greater impactin stimulating trade.

The GATT accord had aimed to boost sugar trade by increasing market access, reducing domestic support and cutting export subsidies. The ISO report made the following points. Market Access: Little extra sugar was imported due to the agreement with only 20 countries pledging to take an extra 163,500 tonnes of sugar, less than 0.5 percent of world sugar trade in 1995. "Few countries made commitments on access and for those who did, such as the EU and the U.S., the level of tariff for beyond tariff-quota imports have been prohibitive," the report said. Tariff quotas effectively became another tool to control trade and protect domestic sugar policies.

Export Subsidies: Pledges to cut sugar export subsidies were minimal and will only be felt in the final year of implementation by developed countries, such as the EU.

Domestic Support: "Because cuts were agreed for agriculture as a whole, there was the opportunity to avoid reducing support to sensitive commodities, such as sugar," thereport said. Many domestic support measures were exempted.