The so-called 'small border traffic' in sugar across the Romanian-Hungarian border is booming, now that Hungary has become a European Union member. Sugar prices have gone up 20%-25% as a result. On May 1, Hungary became party to the common agricultural policy, which sets minimum prices for selling specific products on a market inside the EU - prices that cannot be undercut. Estimates by the Sugar Industry Employers' Association indicate that exports of Romanian sugar, carried across the border in bags by people, stand at nearly 2,000 tonnes (800,000 euros) a month. Moreover, this is an amount that is expected to increase. "This is a very clear phenomenon, not only in terms of small border traffic. Companies themselves have also started to order more and more Romanian sugar," said Ioan Armeneanu, chairman of the Sugar Industry Employers' Association, a body that includes Romania's top sugar factories. He explained that sugar in Romania is twice as cheap as that in Hungary (0.4 euros/kilo - 16,000 ROL compared with 0.8-0.9 euros/kilo). Armeneanu added that Romania should be prepared to experience similar developments to those being witnessed in Hungary at the moment, given the prospect of accession in 2007. ZF
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