Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
DERRICK HEAVEN, executive director of the Sugar Industry Authority (SIA), flew to the United Kingdom on Saturday to continue his lobbying efforts against the European Union's (EU) impending 39 per cent cut in the price paid to African, Caribbean and Pacific-produced (ACP) sugar.
The Gleaner has also learned that Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, K.D. Knight, is currently meeting with ACP ministers in Brussels, Belgium, where the EU is based.
The grouping will be giving a joint press conference tomorrow and in a move that suggests a more coordinated approach, they have hired an international public relations company, Hill and Knowlton, to represent them.
UNIFIED VOICE
This, said Mr. Heaven, was being done "rather belatedly" by the ACP countries. "It is critical that come June 22 when the cuts are announced they speak with a more unified voice."
British High Commissioner Peter Mathers said the negotiation process so far involved consultation among EU states only.
"We were partners in this agreement," said Mr. Heaven of the 1975 Sugar Protocol which guaranteed the price of ACP sugar with the EU. "We have simply been left out and the time that we have left is critical. As with Thursday's protest (outside the British High Commission) ... we must use as much leverage as we can get, however we can."
Tomorrow, Mr. Heaven will be addressing the Caribbean British Business Council, an audience which includes British Trade Minister Ian Pearson and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. Britain will assume the EU presidency on July 1. Mr. Heaven is later scheduled to meet with U.K. Government ministers, the opposition's agriculture spokesperson and Oxfam, the powerful U.K.-based aid charity which supported the end of guaranteed prices for ACP sugar.
GENUINE ATTEMPT
Asked whether an agreement can be reached, Mr. Heaven said, "Had dialogue been engaged an agreement could have been reached a long time ago. If the EU makes a genuine attempt then something can be resolved."
Acknowledging that sugar was "the only economy in many parts of Jamaica," he cautioned, "the industry must survive, but it cannot if it is only seen as social welfare. It can only survive if it is a successful business."
The industry needed to raise efficiency and "the timing of this season's poor crop is unfortunate when we will be negotiating with the EU for assistance along with the cuts." He accepted that this season's crop would likely be as much as 127,000 tonnes, down from a post-Hurricane Ivan forecast of 183,000 tonnes.
Mr. Heaven described himself as "confident" rather than "optimistic" ahead of his trip.
