The following is a statement on behalf of PROFEL manufacturers of jam, fruit spreads, compotes and canned fruit on the outcome of the vote on the sugar regime amendment of the Single CMO report (as part of the CAP reform package):
PROFEL Fruit Processors are disappointed at today's EP vote to prolong the sugar quota regime until 2020:
“This is a missed chance for liberalisation of the EU sugar market. Prolonging the outdated quota regime beyond 2015 puts the competitiveness of European fruit processors - many of them SMEs - at serious risk. Hopes of fruit processors are now with the Council to support the Commission’s proposal for a quota end in 2015 in the negotiations with the EP.”
For the record: PROFEL is the European association of EU manufacturers of canned, frozen and dehydrated vegetables, canned fruit, jams and similar products, fruit spreads and compotes. Fruit processors are important users of sugar: depending on the product, sugar represents between 15% and up to 40% of the costs of the final product.
