Washington (October 21, 2021) – This week, Christine Lantinen, president and owner of Maud Borup Inc., a Minnesota-based candy manufacturing and food gift company, testified before the House Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations during a hearing on “Global Supply Chains and Small Business Trade Challenges” on the topic of the current sugar program, calling for modernization:

“The Sugar Program inflicts further pain by intentionally prohibiting domestic sugar producers and processors from expanding output in response to supply shortages. Imports cannot fix the situation either because of restrictive federal import quotas. Let me put this simply: the U.S. Sugar Program, a collection of policies written and implemented by Congress, creates supply chain shortages for businesses that need sugar to make their products. If we want to address global supply chains and small business trade challenges, this is a good place to start.”

Lantinen’s full testimony can be found here.

On July 27, the Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy introduced the Fair Sugar Policy Act of 2021 (H.R. 4680 /S. 2466) to ensure an adequate supply of sugar based on a reasonable competitive approach that reaches from the farm to the retail shelf – without risking an appropriate safety net for farmers.

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The Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy (AFSP) is a broad-based coalition advocating to modernize the outdated and outrageous U.S. sugar program. Formed by a sizeable group of small, family-owned businesses and manufacturers, retailers, food and beverage companies, trade associations, environmental advocates, taxpayer watchdog organizations, responsible government advocates, think tanks and other organizations, the group’s goal is to help level the playing field for American manufacturers and their families when it comes to being able to create jobs.

To learn more about the Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy and the need for sugar reform, please visit FairSugarPolicy.org.

 
Washington, D.C. (July 27, 2021) – Following the introduction of the Fair Sugar Policy Act of 2021 (H.R. 4680 /S. 2466), the co-chairs of the Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy released the following statement:

John Downs, president & CEO of the National Confectioners Association:

“It’s time to put commonsense to work with an approach that levels the playing field for American food manufacturers and allows them to compete globally. These companies are ready to reinvest in their businesses and create more jobs, but the outdated and outrageous sugar program has prevented them from doing so. We’re looking forward to working with Congress to modernize this program in a way that works for all stakeholders in the food manufacturing supply chain.”

Rick Pasco, president of the Sweetener Users Association:

“The sugar program is a complicated bureaucratic mess of price supports, market allocations, quotas, and government guarantees paid for by food companies and consumers in artificially inflated costs. We are calling on Congress to do the right thing for American businesses, workers, and consumers and reform this outdated program.”

The Fair Sugar Policy Act of 2021 (H.R. 4680 /S. 2466) was introduced by a bicameral, bipartisan group of federal lawmakers to reform the outdated and outrageous sugar program. The proposal ensures an adequate supply of sugar based on a reasonable competitive approach that reaches from the farm to the retail shelf – without risking an appropriate safety net for farmers.

Fair Sugar Policy Act of 2021 (H.R. 4680 /S. 2466) would add a needed spoonful of fairness to the existing U.S. sugar program by:

• Repealing marketing allotments that are unique to sugar production;
• Providing more flexibility to the USDA to ensure an adequate supply to the domestic market;
• Repealing unnecessary trade restrictions;
• Providing for the temporary transfer of unused import quotas to other countries with import quotas; and
• Repealing the Feedstock Flexibility Program.

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The Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy (AFSP) is a broad-based coalition advocating to modernize the outdated and outrageous U.S. sugar program. Formed by a sizeable group of small, family-owned businesses and manufacturers, retailers, food and beverage companies, trade associations, environmental advocates, taxpayer watchdog organizations, responsible government advocates, think tanks and other organizations, the group’s goal is to help level the playing field for American manufacturers and their families when it comes to being able to create jobs.

To learn more about the Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy and the need for sugar reform, please visit FairSugarPolicy.org.

 
Washington, D.C. (September 30, 2019) – The Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy (AFSP) issued the following statement on the Fair Sugar Policy Act (H.R.4521, S.2568), which was introduced by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) and U.S. Representatives Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Danny Davis (D-IL) to fix the U.S. sugar program.

“We appreciate the House and Senate sponsors’ steadfast commitment to modernizing the outdated U.S. sugar program and supporting more than 600,000 workers in the food manufacturing sector.

“This bipartisan, bicameral legislation levels the playing field for the family-owned businesses and manufacturers that make up the backbone of the American economy.

“We look forward to working with Congress to advance these critical reforms and put American small businesses, workers and consumers first.”

The Fair Sugar Policy Act would add a needed spoonful of fairness to the existing U.S. sugar program by:

• Repealing marketing allotments that are unique to sugar production;
• Providing more flexibility to the USDA in order to ensure an adequate supply to the domestic market;
• Repealing unnecessary trade restrictions;
• Providing for the temporary transfer of unused import quotas to other countries with import quotas; and
• Repealing the Feedstock Flexibility Program.

###

The Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy (AFSP) is a broad-based coalition advocating to modernize the outdated and outrageous U.S. sugar program. Formed by a sizeable group of small, family-owned businesses and manufacturers, retailers, food and beverage companies, trade associations, environmental advocates, taxpayer watchdog organizations, responsible government advocates, think tanks and other organizations, the group’s goal is to help level the playing field for American manufacturers and their families when it comes to being able to create jobs.

To learn more about the Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy and the need for sugar reform, please visit FairSugarPolicy.org.