BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
BRAZIL HAS defended its decision to go before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to oppose a move by the European Union to pay above market prices for sugar from the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Brazil was joined in its protest by Australia and Thailand.
The EU has since announced a reform of its sugar protocols, phasing out preferential deals and reducing the price of raw sugar by 36 per cent over four years a move that Caribbean producers said would result in the loss of millions of dollars in much-needed revenue. Caribbean countries, which have been lobbying Europe over the issue, have described the EU proposals as "a betrayal of the commitments and guarantees given by the European Union at the time of the negotiation of the protocol in 1975".
But Brazil's Ambassador to Barbados, Orlando Galveas Olivera, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that while his country wanted to maintain fair trade practices, it is not looking to destroy the livelihood of regional farmers. "What we are looking for is not anything that will damage the Caribbean countries. But if the European Union wants to help the Caribbean countries, it should go and do that directly not through Brazil or Australia," he said.
