EU proposes suspending a duty-free sugar import scheme

PARIS, Jan 27 (Reuters): The European Commission proposed suspending a scheme allowing some duty-free sugar imports into the bloc, aiming to ease pressure on European producers facing falling prices and increased competition. "I will propose a temporary suspension of the sugar inward processing regime to ease pressures on sugar producers," European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen said on X late on Monday.

The IPR scheme allows companies to import sugar at zero duty and without limits, provided the sugar is refined or processed into food products and then re-exported outside the European Union. Raw sugar imported into the EU under the IPR in the 2024/25 marketing year totalled 587,000 metric tons, up 19% on the previous year, of which 95% came from Brazil, European Commission data showed.