THE foreign affairs and foreign trade minister, K D Knight, has stepped up his lobby on what he describes as the “vexed issue of the new regime being proposed for sugar by the European Union.

The minister met Wednesday with head of the EU Delegation to Jamaica, Gerd Jarchow; German Ambassador Dr Christian Hausmann; Spanish Ambassador Rafael Jover; French Ambassador Pierre-Antoine Berniard and Deputy British High Commissioner Phil Sinkinson to register Jamaica’s disapproval of the new proposal.

“The proposed 37 per cent price reduction is too drastic and the adjustment period of three years is too short,” a foreign ministry statement quoted Knight yesterday.

He said that more than US$100 million has been spent to restructure the sugar industry so there was an understanding on the part of the Jamaican Government that it cannot be business as usual.

“In the proposal, it was clear that a great deal of protection was being given to EU beet farmers but not to ACP (African Caribbean and Pacific) sugar producers. I believe that similar support could be extended to the ACP as the assistance being given to EU beet farmers is not trade distorting,” said Knight.

The minister noted that the present proposal would lead to the decimation of the sugar industry and this could lead to serious economic and social difficulties for Jamaica.

“I find it strange that in every agreement concerning world trade that the objectives include economic growth, sustainable development and poverty eradication. If the industries of the countries involved are decimated, there is no economic growth and so there can only be a heightening of poverty,” Knight told the ambassadors in their meeting Wednesday.

The foreign ministry statement said Knight has asked the ambassadors to communicate to their governments Jamaica’s concerns and the inherent problems in the new proposal, with the hope that the position of the ACP will influence the final proposal.

“We knew that the price reduction was inevitable but did not expect it to be as drastic. What we want is an agreement that is less painful,” he said.