Looming cereal and sugar quota tensions

Cereals and sugar production quotas imposed by the EU upon Romanian and Bulgarian farmers could be a cause of tension, as happened in the case of some countries in the first wave of enlargement, Mediafax quoted Reuters as saying. The amounts suggested are in line with the European farming subsidies to be allocated to these countries. According to a document drafted by the European Commission, the authorities in Brussels suggest 109,164 tonnes as Romania’s sugar quota and 4,752 tonnes as the quota for Bulgaria. “We are dumbfounded by this quota and will challenge it, hoping for an increase,” says Ioan Armeanu, the chairman of the Association of Employers in the Sugar Industry. Romania requested an annual quota of 500,000 tonnes of sugar during its negotiations with the EU, in addition to a quota of 113,000 tonnes of isoglucose (maize syrup used in the foodstuffs industry). Concerning the production of cereals and oleaginous plants, the Commission calculated subsidies in line with the arable land available in 2000-2002. The EU therefore credited Romania with 7.013 million ha of land and an average crop of 2.65 tonnes/ha. ZF