British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw chats with European parliamentarian Glenys Kinnock (centre) and Sharon Hay-Webster. Straw was guest-of-honour at a reception held at the High Commissioner's residence on Trafalgar Road, New Kingston in October. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
SUGAR IS part of the Caribbean's history - from European colonisation through slavery and indentured labour to independence and efforts to build collective action across the region. That history is inextricably linked to the need to supply Britain with a tropically-grown commodity. In the 1970s, when there was a serious shortage of non-tropical sugar, this led to an agreement between ACP countries and Europe on predetermined supplies.
NOT SUPPLICANTS
The sugar states are not supplicants - they are part of a partnership which is a legally-binding arrangement. They naturally resent the fact that European beet farmers, drinks manufacturers and refiners are protected (witness the rise in Tate and Lyle's shares!) Even inefficient European sugar beet farmers will get hefty compensation - in the interests of making a deal at all costs. A derisory amount of £40 million has been agreed for 18 countries for two years with a promise of more. Compare this with the firm commitment to provide £8 billion for Europe's sugar industry. They have even agreed a safeguard mechanism designed to be triggered if developing country exports of sugar increase by more than 25 per cent.
Also, bananas have provided a further test of our seriousness about honouring our mandate on the Doha Development Round. Trade Ministers from the Windward Islands have made it clear that changes to the banana regime, as a result of a WTO ruling, which are due to be introduced on January 1, 2006, will lead to lower prices and incomes for their small farmers. They will lose the predictability and stability which is so essential for the production and shipping of this highly perishable fruit. "Bananas", as Saint Lucia's Minister said, "sustain a way of life and the very social fabric of our countries will be dislocated". In Hong Kong, these countries will urge Panama and Honduras to reconsider going back to the WTO dispute settlement procedure. Caribbean countries have served notice that they "will fight all the way to Hong Kong and beyond".
- G.K.
