§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on recent developments in the sugar sector concerning reform of the regime and the Everything but Arms initiative. [151399]
§ Ms QuinThere have been no recent discussions on sugar reform pending the Opinion of the European Parliament and a decision on the Everything but Arms proposal. Now that the General Affairs Council has reached a decision on EBA, I would expect negotiations on sugar reform to resume shortly.
Under the General Affairs Council's decision on EBA there will be transitional arrangements for sensitive products, which in the case of sugar mean an increasing duty-free quota from this year, with general reductions in duty phased in from 2006.