Balanced Trade Agreement Strengthens Competitiveness and Supply Resilience
The Committee of European Sugar Users (CIUS) welcomes yesterday’s announcement of the
conclusion of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and
Australia. The agreement represents an important step towards strengthening trade relations
with a reliable and like-minded partner, while supporting the competitiveness of EU food and
drink manufacturers.
CIUS also underlines the broader importance of supply resilience for the EU sugar market. The
European Union remains a structurally deficit market and will always require a certain level of
imports to ensure stability and continuity of supply for the food and drink industry. In a rapidly
changing global environment, some traditional sources of supply are becoming increasingly
limited or are no longer available. Imports from certain preferential origins have declined
significantly in recent years, while some long-standing tariff-rate quotas are no longer being fully
utilized due to structural production constraints in exporting countries. In this context,
maintaining diversified and reliable sources of supply is essential for the competitiveness and
resilience of EU sugar-using industries.
The EU market for sensitive products remains carefully balanced. In the case of sugar, the
agreement foresees a tariff-rate quota of 35,000 tonnes of raw cane sugar for refining,
representing less than 0.3% of total EU sugar consumption. This indicates that the agreement
constitutes only a very small share of overall market demand and therefore does not pose a risk
to market stability.
Australia is one of the world’s most reliable agricultural exporters and an important partner for
the European Union in a period marked by growing geopolitical uncertainty and increasing
pressure on global supply chains. Strengthening trade relations with stable partners contributes
not only to export opportunities but also to greater resilience and predictability for EU
manufacturers.
For the EU food and drink industry that is one of Europe’s largest manufacturing sectors and a
key contributor to the EU trade surplus, the agreement represents a positive step towards
strengthening competitiveness, supporting exports and maintaining value-added production and
jobs in the European Union.
CIUS will continue to support balanced, fact-based and forward-looking trade agreements that
strengthen competitiveness, improve supply resilience and support sustainable growth of the EU
food manufacturing sector.
Please find the full Press Release here.
