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NAFTA: Florida Sugar Industry Reconunendations 



1. Sugar Recommendations. The following changes must be made: 



a. Net Exporter Determination. Mexico will be given increased acces 

 to the U.S. market any year it is projected to achieve sugar 

 "surplus producer" status. This "surplus producer" determinatio 

 must be changed in two ways: 



(1) It must be calculated not just on the basis of sugar, but 

 expanded to include corn sweeteners. Otherwise, Mexico will 

 have tremendous incentive to achieve sugar surplus status simpl 

 by replacing the 1.5 million tons of sugar consumed by its 

 beverage industry with corn sweeteners, and shipping its surplu 

 sugar to the United States. 



If this change is not made, the pain of adjustment for the 

 Mexican sugar industry would be shifted to the U.S. sugar 

 industry. Our industry has already borne the pain of the 

 transition from sugar to corn sweeteners in beverages, at an 

 enormous cost — 53 closings of cane sugar mills, beet sugar 

 factories, and cane refineries, plus the loss of thousands of 

 U.S. jobs. 



(2) It must be calculated on the basis of verifiable history and /^o 

 just on uncertain projections, as currently provided. In 

 addition, sound verification methods must be established and 

 enforced. 



b. Access Limitation . Mexico's access to the U.S. market would be 

 expanded to 150,000 tons in year 7, and increased 10% per year 

 during years 8-lS of the agreement. By year IS, this would amoun 

 to imports of 322,000 ton*, 44 times Mexico's current accass. 



But if Mexico achieves surplus producer status any two consecutiv 

 years, including years 1-6, it is permitted to send its entire 

 e)q;>ortable surplus to the United States. This provision must be 

 struck — Mexico should not have virtually unlimited access to the 

 U.S. market, particularly after a mere 6 years. 



When U.S. domestic marketing allocations are in place, imports froi 

 Mexico, or any other country, above the 1.25-million-short-ton 

 minimum, must be subject to the common external tariff. To preven 

 substitution during or after the transition period, Mexico must 

 apply the common external tariff to all non-NAFTA sugar imports 

 after it achieves net exporter status. 



2. Suaar-Containina Product Recom mendation. U.S. Section-22 protections fo: 



refined sugar and sugar-containing products will be phased out over 10 

 years. This transition period should be 15 years, not 10 years, 

 consistent with the transition period for raw sugar. 



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