READERS and shoppers in Wiltshire will be shocked to learn that they must pay around three times the world price for their sugar in the UK.

This is because unfair EU sugar policies mainly benefit a few big UK farmers and especially one large company, British Sugar, which makes millions from unfair sugar laws while poor countries and UK consumers miss out.

British Sugar is allocated a quota for sugar production by the UK Government at the beginning of each year and is guaranteed a high price for this sugar.

Many poor countries around the world produce sugar much more cheaply than farmers in the UK.

But, despite their competitive advantage, unfair trade rules limit how much they can benefit from trade in sugar.

Three of the world's poorest countries, Mozambique, Malawi and Ethiopia, are estimated to have lost £130m since 2001 in potential earnings from sugar because of barriers to trade in Europe.

The system rewards big companies and rich farmers with EU taxpayers and consumers' money and contributes to poverty in the developing world.

The madness is that we produce far more sugar that we can consume in the UK or Europe and at very high cost.

Then we, as part of the EU, help dump five million tonnes a year on developing countries, making it difficult for them to sell their own produce.

Oxfam in Wiltshire is asking supporters to request local MPs and the UK Government to press for EU reforms that increase access to Europe's markets for the world's poorest countries, reduce European production levels and end EU export dumping.

This is a sugar scandal and there is nothing sweet about it.

Oxfam's new report, Dumping On The World, and our campaign actions for fairer trade rules are available on www.maketradefair.com

ROGER JAMES

Oxfam SW

Bristol