International Market Sugar

In the international market sugar is a large commodity. Generally speaking, the price of this

product should be similar across all nations however, this is not the case. In the United States, the

price of sugar has been nearly two to three times more than other regions around the world. A large part

having to do with regulations and laws set by the United States. (Rolnik, 2019)

The United States Sugar Program, is an intricate collection of loans, price supports, and

restrictions on imports through tariffs designed to support domestic sugar agriculture and refineries,

despite access to cheaper international alternatives. With that being said, it’s easy to see how sugar

subsidies create confliction between concentrated interest and public interest.

In 2003 the World Health Organization released a joint report with the Food and Agriculture

Organization entitled Diet nutrition and the prevention of chronic disease. For the first time, it called for

a reduction in sugar intake to under 10 percent of total dietary energy consumption. In response to this,

the Sugar Association wrote that it would “exercise every avenue available to expose the dubious nature

of the World Health Organization’s report and would challenge all 406 million dollars of its funding.

(Rolnik, 2019)

With the acquisition of legislative support by means of effective lobbying, and political

contributions, the sugar industry has solidified its hold on the market. To ensure beneficial gains,

agricultural legislations are written to