To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which countries he expects to receive EU funding following the completion of national sugar action plans, as referred to in the answer of 8 October 2007, Official Report, columns 8-9W, on ACP and developing countries: common sugar regime. (165899)

The Sugar Protocol was signed between the European Union and 18 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries: Barbados, Belize, Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Fiji, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, St. Kitts and Nevis, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

According to the European Commission all 18 countries will benefit from the transitional assistance for sugar, although the amount allocated to each country will vary. The amount allocated to each country is based on two criteria: the impact of the sugar reform on the sugar sector of the country concerned and the importance of the sugar sector to the economy. The countries were required to draw up a national sugar adaptation strategy to show how they will spend their allocation.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the likely decline in value of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, as referred to in the answer of 8 October 2007, Official Report, columns 8-9W, on ACP and developing countries: common sugar regime preferences. (165900)

DFID has commissioned a number of independent studies looking at the impact of the reform of the European Union (EU) sugar market on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries that export sugar to the EU. The studies show that the impact of the sugar reform will not fall uniformly on the sugar protocol countries. Some countries will benefit with the opportunity to increase the volume of their sugar export to the EU market under the duty free and quota free market access offer. In other countries sugar may not continue to be an economic industry. Indeed some ACP countries have already taken that decision and are withdrawing from sugar production. We have always been clear that such countries will require transitional assistance. It is not possible to estimate the size of the impact on the individual ACP countries. This will depend on other decisions that they make in response to the reform.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations have received technical and financial support from his Department to assist in drawing up their individual sugar action plans as referred to in the answer of 8 October 2007, Official Report, columns 8-9W, on ACP and developing countries: common sugar regime. (165901)

DFID provided financial support totalling £200,000 for six Caribbean countries: Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis and Jamaica to draw up their national sugar action plans.