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<p>During negotiations of the reforms the UK Government argued for a fair and balanced
outcome for all parts of the sugar industry. Disappointingly, there was insufficient
support from other Member States to secure the necessary changes on imports to allow
the cane sector to compete on a level playing field with the beet sector. However,
we remain committed to working with the European Commission to address this issue
through forthcoming EU trade agreements and other measures as required.</p><p>As part
of this strategy, Defra Ministers pressed the EU Agriculture Commissioner to prioritise
sugar imports as part of the recent EU negotiations with South Africa. Those negotiations
have now completed and include enhanced market access for sugar imports which we expect
to be available when the trade deal is signed and ratified next year. The UK also
supports duty free and quota free (DFQF) imports of sugar from Least Developed Countries
(LDC) through the EU’s Everything But Arms scheme and from African, Caribbean and
Pacific (ACP) countries which have signed Economic Partnership Agreements. Continued
access to DFQF sugar from Fiji was secured last year through application of their
trade deal with the EU. The UK will continue to support ACP and LDC countries to maintain
their preferences into the EU market until the sector is fully liberalised.</p>
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