By signing the Association Agreement with the European country, Central America achieved an export quota of 56 thousand metric tons of sugar free of tariffs.
Days ago it was reported that the association agreement signed guarantees Central American countries that with the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, there will not be a legal vacuum that interrupts trade relations with that country, while maintaining tariff preferences and legal guarantees for companies exporting to the United Kingdom.
They estimate that the current harvest will close with over 12 million 46 kg sacks by the end of April.
Mario Salaverría, director of the Sugar Association (AA), reported that the cane harvest of October-November 2009 will generate 11.4 million sacks, plus what it generates this month.
He explained that despite unstable weather they obtained better yields per hectare, which is why they estimate higher sugar production for this year.
Central American countries will present a proposal to obtain financing in order to provide resources for agricultural activities.
The Ministers of Agriculture from Ibero-America agreed in El Salvador to promote the joint investment in order to boost food production and to provide incentives to youth that work in the field.
The petition will be made at the XVII Ibero-American Presidential Summit to be held in October in El Salvador.
Californian farmers organized an agricultural summit in Fresno to seek ways of bringing more Central American workers to the United States to harvest their crops.
El Salvador's deputy president, Ana Vilma de Escobar, attended the meeting. The American farmers, she said, urgently need to hire 180,000 workers. But Escobar was reluctant to make any promises pending a US immigration reform that would provide permanent residence for thousands of Salvadorans already living in the US on temporary visas.
Spain hopes to lead creation of a US$1.7 billion fund to provide aid for programs that boost farm productivity in developing countries such as those of Central America, said Mario Salaverría, El Salvador's agriculture minister.
The proposal emerged at the meeting in Rome of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Association. Central America is presenting the meeting with a joint program to tackle the growing food crisis in the region.