WASHINGTON (February 27, 2023) – In response to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s recent comments that he wants to see a farm bill for the “many and most,” the Executive Director of the Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy, Grant Colvin, released the following statement:

“We are encouraged to hear that Secretary Vilsack is hoping Congress will pass a farm bill that benefits ‘many and most.’ Our leaders in Congress should share Secretary Vilsack’s desire and ensure those beneficiaries include Main Street businesses and the hundreds of thousands of manufacturing workers employed by American food companies. To that end, we call on Congress to come together and modernize the more than 80-year-old U.S. sugar program, as it forces American businesses to pay more than double what their foreign competitors pay for sugar and unnecessarily inflates the already high and rising cost of food in this country. Now is the time to act on smart bipartisan reforms to the sugar program that will support farmers, businesses and families alike.”

###

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

 
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.

###

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.

###

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.

 

It’s Time for the Senate to Say Yes to Fairness, Yes to Competitiveness and Yes to Protecting and Creating American Jobs

 

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2018) – The Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy (AFSP) today released the following statement expressing disappointment that the House failed to modernize the 80-year-old U.S. sugar program:

“It is disappointing that some members of Congress fell for the misinformation, scare tactics and highly charged, exaggerated rhetoric floated by the handful of sugar mega-processors that benefit from the complicated and messy sugar program.

“Unfortunately, the vote count on the Foxx amendment reflects politics as usual in Washington – from backroom deals to bitter partisanship on major pieces of legislation. This vote does not reflect the thousands of small businesses, newspaper editorial boards and taxpayer watchdog, consumer protection and environmental groups that have called on Congress to modernize the sugar program.

“The vote also does not reflect the groundswell of support among Republicans and Democrats who believe in the need to reform the program for the benefit of the American people and U.S. businesses.

“We thank Representative Foxx for her leadership on this issue, as well as the many champions of modernization who spoke up on the floor today, including Representatives Kind, Goodlatte, Blumenauer, Speier, Sanford and Perry.

“We are committed to continuing this fight. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and a broad-based 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 still believe American small businesses deserve a fair sugar policy that works for everyone in the supply chain – from farm to the retail shelf.

“We believe that the Senate will say yes to fairness, yes to competitiveness and yes to protecting and creating American jobs by modernizing the sugar program.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

As the only commodity subsidy program that has not been modernized by Congress, the sugar program forces manufacturers to pay twice as much for sugar as the rest of the world, putting American businesses at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to creating jobs.

More than 600,000 Americans are employed throughout every state in the country by small, family-owned businesses and other food manufacturers that include sugar as an ingredient in the products they make. The impact is especially great on small, family-owned businesses that are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Click here to hear directly from small business owners and employees who are negatively impacted by the outdated and outrageous sugar program.

A number of provisions of the bill were included in the Foxx amendment and are likely to be included in a Senate amendment. The proposed provisions would help ensure an adequate supply of sugar at reasonable prices for American businesses – while preserving the sugar program and without risking an appropriate safety net for farmers.

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.

 

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2018) – Today, as the House begins debate on amendments to the 2018 Farm Bill, the Alliance for Fair Sugar Policy (AFSP) released a list of more than 100 small businesses, newspaper editorial boards and taxpayer watchdog, consumer protection and environmental groups that have called on Congress to modernize the U.S. sugar program. The House is expected to consider an amendment – the Foxx-Davis Amendment – that would make modest reforms to modernize the 80-year-old U.S. program and ensure fairness for American manufacturers and consumers.

“We are encouraged by the groundswell of bipartisan support in Congress and among a broad coalition of small businesses and organizations of all stripes for modernizing the outdated sugar program,” said Jennifer Cummings, AFSP spokesperson. “This level of support for sugar reform is unprecedented. Now it’s time for the House to say yes to fairness, yes to competitiveness, and yes to protecting and creating American jobs.”

The small businesses and organizations that have called for sugar reform include:

Adams & Brooks, Inc. (California)
Albanese Confectionery Group (Indiana)
Albany Times Union Editorial Board
ALEC Action
American Bakers Association
American Beverage Association
American Commitment
American Conservation Coalition
American Conservative Union
American Enterprise Institute
American Frozen Food Institute
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Artfully Edible (New Jersey)
Atkinson Candy Company (Texas)
Biscoamerica Corporation (California)
Bissinger’s Handcrafted Chocolate (Missouri)
Brown & Haley Co. (Washington)
Bullsugar.org
California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce
Campaign for Liberty
Cato Institute
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Center for Individual Freedom
Center for Innovation and Free Enterprise
Center for Worker Freedom
Chicago Tribune Editorial Board
Clean Water Action
Club for Growth
Coalition to Reduce Spending
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Consumer Choice Center
Consumer Federation of America
Coral Street Catering (New Jersey)
Corse’s Cookies (New York)
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
EFCO Products (New York)
Everglades Trust
Florida Defenders of the Environment
Florida Wildlife Federation
Food Industry Alliance of New York State, Inc.
Food Marketing Institute
Ford Gum & Machine Company (New York)
Free the People
Freedom Partners
FreedomWorks
Goetze’s Candy Company (Maryland)
Gold Medal Bakery (Massachusetts)
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Hawaiian Host, Inc. (Hawaii & California)
Heartland Institute
Heritage Action
Heritage Foundation
Horchata Mexican Food and Bakery (California)
Independent Bakers Association
Independent Women’s Forum
Independent Women’s Voice
International Dairy Foods Association
John Locke Foundation
Just Born Quality Confections (Pennsylvania)
Kimmie Candy (Nevada)
LA Area Chamber of Commerce
Madelaine Chocolate Company (New York)
Manhattan Beach Creamery (California)
Melville Candy Company (Massachusetts)
National Association of Manufacturers
National Black Chamber of Commerce
National Confectioners Association
National Consumers League
National Foreign Trade Council
National Parks Conservation Association
National Taxpayers Union Foundation
Noyes Bakery (California)
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board
Peanut and Tree Nut Processors Association
Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia
R Street Institute
Reef Relief
Retail Bakers of America
Rio Grande Foundation
RM Palmer Company (Pennsylvania)
Rosalie’s Restaurant and Bakery (California)
Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation
Sconza Chocolates (California)
Sierra Club
Sierra Club Broward Group
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
SNAC International
Spangler Candy Company (Ohio)
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
Sweetener Users Association
Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board
Taste Elevated (Texas)
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
TC Palm Editorial Board
Texas Association of Business
The Promotion in Motion Companies, Inc. (New Jersey)
Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity
Treasure Coast Editorial Board
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA)
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
Washington Post Editorial Board

More than 600,000 Americans are employed throughout every state in the country by small, family-owned businesses and other food manufacturers that include sugar as an ingredient in the products they make. The impact is especially great on small, family-owned businesses that are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Click here to hear directly from small business owners and employees who are negatively impacted by the outdated and outrageous sugar program.

AFSP supports the Foxx-Davis Amendment, which would help ensure an adequate supply of sugar at reasonable prices for American businesses – while preserving the sugar program and without risking an appropriate safety net for farmers.

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.