Joint CIBE-CEFS-EFFAT response to UNICA (Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association) related to EU-Mercosur negotiations.

CIBE welcomes the initiative by Commissioner P. Hogan to set up a Sugar Market Observatory. Ahead of the observatory’s kick-off meeting, CIBE would like to reiterate its position regarding the transparency on the EU sugar market post-2017.

EU sugar and renewable ethanol producers, sugar beet farmers, and workers call for no concessions on sugar and ethanol in the context of the EU-Mercosur trade negotiations.

At their annual General Assembly today in Newmarket, UK, European beet growers discussed the extremely challenging context they have to cope with and the higher risks they have to face as from this marketing year.

The EU sugar sector faces its biggest change in decades. On 1 October 2017 EU sugar production quotas will end. At this sensitive and uncertain time, the European Commission has proposed to vote in the Management Committee of 27 April 2017 on the introduction of 'temporary' measures (tenders for imports at reduced duties) to increase the supply of sugar on the EU market.

A  letter was sent on Friday 24^th, February 2017 by 7 partners representing Europe’s Biofuels Value Chain (FEDIOL, EBB, ePURE, EOA, CIBE, CEPM MAIZ EUROP' and CEFS) on the key principles for the discussion on the post-2020 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).

On January 26, 2017, CIBE participated in a workshop entitled “Barriers and Opportunities to Valorising Agri-food wastes, co-products and by-products (AWCBs)” in Brussels, Belgium. The workshop brought together key players to identify important resources, constraints and opportunities to developing novel value chains and creating sustainable business models.

The EU beet sugar sector has a long tradition of valorising all products arising from the processing of sugar beet, while keeping the use of inputs to an optimum. The Beet Sugar sector thus already applies the principles of the circular economy and waste reduction, anticipating and leading the way towards higher resource efficiency and waste elimination.

Copa & Cogeca reject plans to cut by almost half targets for conventional biofuels used in transport by 2030 warning it will jeopardise EU climate and energy targets #NobiofuelNofood

CIBE CEFS have just issued a Press Release reacting to the Commission JRC Report on Cumulative economic impact of future trade agreements on EU agriculture recently published.