EC COMMISSION DECLINES COMMENT ON SUGAR OFFER
The European Community (EC) Commission
declined to give an official reaction to reports that a group
of european operators plan to offer one mln tonnes of sugar
into intervention in protest at Commission export policies.
    However, a spokesman for the Commission confirmed the
offers had been made to intervention agencies in various member
states, and said it would now take up to three weeks for the
agencies concerned to complete all necessary documentation.
    The spokesman said that under current regulations, the EC
would have to accept all the offers if there were no technical
problems.
    The spokesman said the Commission would only have to
reimburse the member state for the cost of buying-in the sugar
after the product was sold out of intervention stores at a
later date.
    He said that at present there was virtually no sugar held
in intervention stores.
    Last year, 45,000 tonnes were sold into intervention and
during the 1984-85 campaign 108,000 tonnes.
 REUTER
