Agricultural prices 1997/1998: fixation of sugar prices and of the standard quality of beet

Agricultural prices 1997/98 - sugar The Commission proposes a freeze on the basic price for beet, the intervention price for white sugar and the manufacturing margin. The proposals for sugar prices for 1997/98 are therefore as follows: - basic price for beet: ECU 47.67/t. - minimum price for A beet: ECU 46.72/t. - minimum price for B beet: ECU 32.42/t. - intervention price for white sugar: ECU 63.19/100 kg. - target price for white sugar: ECU 66.50/100 kg. - intervention price for raw sugar: ECU 52.37/100 kg. The minimum prices for A and B beet are unchanged. However it should be noted that the effective minimum price for B beet will ultimately depend on the final rate of the contribution for B beet which is to be fixed at a later stage under the management committee procedure (pursuant to Article 28 of Regulation 1785/81/EEC). With regard to compensation for storage costs, the Commission proposes to change the amount of the monthly reimbursement from ECU 0.42 to 0.35/100 kg white sugar per month (-16.7%) to take account of the fall in interest rates in the Community. �