USDA to Increase Raw Sugar TRQ by 420K STRV on April 19
The Department of Agriculture announced a fiscal year 2012 raw sugar tariff-rate quota increase of 420,000 short tons raw value (SRTV) (reassigned from FY 2012 surplus allocations from the cane sugar domestic marketing allotment), effective April 19, 2012.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
The 420,000 STRV raw sugar TRQ increase, when combined with an estimated reallocation of 70,000 STRV, is expected to yield a net increase in raw sugar imports of 450,000 STRV after normal TRQ slippage because not all supplying countries will fill their import quota allocations.
(This TRQ increase is not currently expected to increase FY 2012 domestic sugar supplies sufficiently to attain a level USDA considers adequate. However, USDA said it is not increasing imported supplies further at this time due to uncertainties about FY 2012 Mexican imports, domestic refined and raw sugar demand, the early sugar beet crop, and other market factors. USDA will re-evaluate market conditions in June, as required by statute, and, as determined appropriate, increase the TRQ to bring the expected FY 2012 ending-stocks-use to within the traditional range that USDA considers adequate, i.e. 13.5 percent to 15.5 percent.)
TRQ Raw Sugar Needs CQE, Must be Entered by Sept 30
On July 30, 2011, USDA established the FY 2012 TRQ for raw cane sugar at 1,231,497 STRV (1,117,195 metric tons raw value (MTRV)), the minimum to which the United States is committed under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. USDA is now increasing the raw cane sugar TRQ by 420,000 STRV (381,018 MTRV). With this increase, the overall FY 2012 raw sugar TRQ will be 1,651,497 STRV (1,498,213 MTRV).
Raw sugar under this TRQ must be accompanied by a certificate of quota eligibility (CQE) and may be entered until September 30, 2012. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will soon announce the allocation of this increase among supplying countries and customs areas.
(See FR notice for other details, including an increase in Overall Allotment Quantity and reassignment of marketing allocations and allotments, as well as a table of FY 2012 beet/cane sugar allotments and allocations.)
(See ITT’s Online Archives 11080220 for summary of USDA’s announcement of FY 2012 sugar TRQs, including announcement that raw sugar under its 2012 TRQ could enter beginning September 1, 2011, a month earlier than the usual first entry date of October 1, and 11080907 for summary of USTR’s country allocation for FY 2012 sugar TRQ’s. USTR will publish an update to these country allocations soon.
See also ITT’s Online Archives 12040219 for summary of March 28 letter from the Sweetener Users Association urging USDA to increase the sugar TRQ by 728,000-961,000 STRV.)
USDA Press release (dated 04/18/12) available here.