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WTO limits European sugar subsidies
18 Oct 2004
The World Trade Organisation ruled that the European Union's sugar production subsidies were illegal. A WTO panel upheld an interim ruling that found in favour of a claim by Australia, Brazil and Thailand that the European Union must limit its export subsidies in the sugar sector to 499 million euros ($849 million) on a total of 1.273 million tonnes a year. The Australian government says the EU had been spending up to 1.3 billion euros ($2.21 billion) a year on subsidies for an annual average of more than five million tonnes of sugar exports. The ruling means the EU may have to withdraw up to four million tonnes a year of subsidised exports from the world sugar market.
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