IU.S. sugar policy guarantees access to America's sugar market for some of the world’s smallest countries--such as the tiny African island of Mauritius--which are heavily dependent on sugar exports.

Under U.S. sugar policy, Mauritian sugar producers are able to receive prices that are fairer than they would receive on the volatile world dump market, where foreign subsidies have driven sugar prices below world production costs.

The 14,000 tons of sugar Mauritius sends to America duty-free each year are essential to the country’s agricultural sector—especially given their revenue losses from Europe’s pricey sugar policy “reform.”

That’s why representatives from this small African country were on Capitol Hill in February asking lawmakers to not to change America’s no-cost sugar policy.

If America’s no-cost policy changed or were eliminated, Mauritius would lose its market share to Brazil, Colombia, Thailand and other subsidized sugar superpowers.

“It would be like rubbing salt in the wound—our tiny island nation’s access to our two most important markets would be seriously affected,” said Jean Noel Humbert, CEO of the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate, a cooperative that markets the island’s sugar.  “America’s sugar policy helps developing countries and it should not be weakened in the upcoming farm bill.”

Mauritian Sugar
Sugar represents 25 percent of Mauritius’ exports and employs 12 percent of the country’s workforce.  First grown on the island in 1743, sugarcane is now produced on 90 percent of the island’s cultivated land area and is responsible for nearly 10 percent of the Mauritian economy.

Since Mauritius gained independence in 1968, sugar has helped lift the island from poverty.  In 1974, sugar accounted for more than 50 percent of the nation’s economy and more than 85 percent of its exports.