WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1479/97 by Sirkka-Liisa ANTTILA to the Council. The need to change Finland's B production quota for beet sugar into an A quota to maintain sufficient refinery capacity in Finland
Date: 1997-04-24
Institutions: ANTTILA, European Parliament
Subjects: Finland, beet sugar, production, production quota, sugar industry, sugar levy, sugar refining, underproduction

17. 3. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 82/7

(98/C 82/08)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1479/97

by Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (ELDR) to the Council

(24 April 1997)

Subject: The need to change Finland(cid:146)s B production quota for beet sugar into an A quota to maintain sufficient

refinery capacity in Finland

Finland(cid:146)s beet sugar production quotas total 146 776 tons, of which 133 433 tons is an A quota and 13 343 tons a
B quota. Finland(cid:146)s A quota represents 1.1% and its B quota 0.5% of the corresponding quotas for the whole EU
area.

Finland(cid:146)s raw sugar import quota is 60 000 tons. Consumption of sugar in Finland totals nearly 200 000 tons per
annum. Finland is therefore clearly an under-production area for sugar, and we hardly benefit from EU sugar aid
either. In reality, through production and storage levies, Finland subsidizes the sugar industries of Member States
with surplus sugar production. In 1995/96, Finland(cid:146)s production levy was 27.5 million marks, of which the basic
levy for the B quota was 996 215.30 marks and the production levy for the B quota 16 556 660.14 marks. Finland
funds the EU(cid:146)s sugar industry to the tune of 27.5 million marks, 40% of the cost being borne by industry and 60%
by farmers.

Because our beet sugar quota is too small, Finland(cid:146)s sugar industry is closing one of its beet sugar plants in
Janakkala in 1998, our quota being too small to permit three plants to operate efficiently. The sugarbeet quota
assigned to Finland in 1995 as a result of the accession negotiations was too small even at the outset, leading to
higher unit refinery costs.

The closure of one plant will directly cause 150 redundancies and will destroy the livelihoods of more than a
thousand sugarbeet farmers.

Finland needs a share in the EU(cid:146)s sugarbeet production quota which corresponds to our consumption. Finland(cid:146)s
B quota of 13 343 tons should therefore be changed into an A quota. This would reduce our production levies
from 27.5 million marks to 10.9 million marks, improve the viability of Finland(cid:146)s sugar industry and guarantee us
a more equitable farming and refinery capacity.

Answer

(16 October 1997)

The Council does not at the moment have any proposal from the Commission concerning sugar quota levels.

However,  as  far  as  the  sugar  arrangements  are  concerned,  the  Council  would  point  out  to  the  Honourable
Member that:

›  a Member State(cid:146)s sugar consumption is not the sole determinant of the amount and composition of its sugar

quotas;

› 

the  sugar  quota  applicable  in  Finland  was  negotiated  and  agreed  in  the  context  of  the  negotiations  for
Finland(cid:146)s accession to the Union. The production quota levels for Finland and other Member States were
subsequently confirmed by the Council at the time of the review of the Community(cid:146)s sugar arrangements in
April 1995. The B quota established for Finland is 10 % the A quota; the same percentage is applicable in
five other Member States;

› 

the sugar arrangements take account of the supply situation in tha derived regionalized prices are set for
sugar in deficit regions; these prices are higher than the general Community price and ensure higher returns
for sugar producers and beet growers in those regions. This is also the case with Finland.