USDA Adjusts Sugar Program

WASHINGTON - Sep 12/05 - SNS -- The USDA is making more changes to the national sugar program in an attempt to increase readily available supplies in response to market disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina.

USDA announced a further increase in fiscal year 2005 Overall Allotment Quantity (OAQ), which is the quantity of domestic sugar that may enter the market, of 105,000 short tons raw value (STRV). As required by statute, 54.35 percent or 57,068 STRV of the OAQ increase is assigned to the beet sector. This action makes available all the refined sugar that beet processors report they can physically deliver to the market in September 2005.

This allotment is assigned to sugar beet processors according to the attached table. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) reassigned allotment from companies that were not expected to fulfill their allocation to companies that have a greater capacity to do so. No cane sugar blocked stocks exist and that sector's portion (45.65%) of the allocation must be reassigned to the CCC. Since CCC also has no sugar, the allotment is reassigned to imports.

In addition, USDA will increase the fiscal year 2006 global on a first-come, first-served tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for refined sugar of 75,000 STRV basis. The fiscal year 2006 global refined sugar TRQ, previously established at 7,815 STRV, is now 82,815 STRV. The authority for modification of a quantitative limitation previously established for the refined sugar TRQ is in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, Chapter 17, Additional U.S. Note 5.

The specialty sugar, Mexican and Canadian allocations of the fiscal year 2006 refined sugar TRQ are unchanged and the total fiscal year 2006 refined sugar TRQ is now 129,013 STRV. In an earlier announcement on August 30, USDA permitted early entry of the fiscal year 2006 refined sugar TRQ beginning September 8, 2005, which will also apply to this TRQ increase. Today's announcement supplements sugar program announcements made on August 12, August 19 and August 30.