Currently, producers and processors want to lobby for legislation that will best protect their interests.
Canadian sugar beet processors complain that Canada is now the only G7 country that still does not have such legislation.
As a result, the national sugar market does not look its best.
— A significant portion of sugar is imported from other countries such as Brazil and India.
— Independent sugar processing is not developed within the country, so even beets grown in Canada are often sent abroad to be turned into sugar there.
— Own sugar in the domestic Canadian market occupies a very modest share of about 8%.
— There are problems with storing the beet crop in the country.
— All this does not contribute to the development of sugar beet cultivation within the country; at the moment we have to deal with the fact that some companies voluntarily reduce beet production and switch to other crops that are more profitable.
“If there was a national sugar policy, we could expand the market, develop processing infrastructure and potentially entice other provinces to start growing sugar beets again,” says Jennifer Crowson, executive director of the sugar industry group.
What measures are proposed to be taken?
First of all, Canadian producers expect legislators to limit the amount of sugar that can be imported into the country.
It should also aim to double the share of its own sugar in the Canadian market from 8% to 16%.
At the next stage, it will be necessary to attract investment into this industry to stimulate its development. In particular, we are talking about increasing the area under sugar beets.
Ultimately, a more balanced policy in the field of sugar beet growing and sugar production could allow Canada to become a more import-independent country in this area.
Currently, the first steps have been taken on this path: a working group is being created that will lobby for the adoption of the necessary changes to the legislation.
“We were recently able to hold several meetings with representatives of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
We are setting up a working group that will look at some aspects of what domestic sugar policy might look like,” says Crowson.
Most likely, the process will not be too fast, but manufacturers are not giving up hope of achieving the desired result in the foreseeable future.
