CIBE - International Confederation of European Beet Growers, founded in 1927, represents 300,000 sugar beet growers from 15 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, the United Kingdom) plus Switzerland and Turkey.

CEFS - Comité Européen des Fabricants de Sucre, founded in 1953, represents all European beet sugar manufacturers and cane sugar refiners, covering sugar production in 21 EU countries plus Switzerland.

EFFAT - European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions, results from the merger of two European federations IECF-IUF and EFAI in 2000. It represents 120 national trade unions from 35 countries, defending the interests of more than 2.6 million members in the food, agriculture and tourism sectors.

TIMELINE

THE AIM OF THE PARTNERSHIP

In line with the Europe 2020 strategy for a ‘smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive growth’ for the EU, the partnership agreement aims to highlight and facilitate further the dissemination of good agricultural, industrial, social and environmental practices in the sector, while taking into account the relevant elements of economic sustainability providing stable and reliable beet sugar production in the EU.

The partners are working together, engaging in a constructive dialogue and exchange with third parties, while managing the overall process so as to deliver meaningful results for the sector.

The partners have developed a range of documents and materials to meet your specific needs and interests.

The Good Practices capture a wide variety of sustainability techniques, tools and practices used by the sector, underpinned by a commitment to technical environmental excellence and social dialogue.

The Good Practices represent an opportunity to share and develop our performance across the sector and the region. They provide a platform to make our practices and commitments clear for our stakeholders. And they serve as the basis for strong and transparent engagement with markets and policy makers going forward. 

2014-2015 - THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PARTNERSHIP

The partners have agreed to create a working platform, including a steering committee and three technical working groups, covering notably agriculture, industrial and social aspects of beet sugar production in Europe. In addition, partners intend to involve external expertise to provide independent advice for this partnership. Since September 2015, the CIBE-CEFS-EFFAT Partnership is called the EU Beet Sugar Sustainability Partnership - EU BSSP.

The partners worked together, engaging in a constructive dialogue and exchange with other stakeholders, while managing the overall process to deliver a concrete outcome for the sector .

SUGAR BEET: AN IMPORTANT CROP

Sugar beet is an important crop in the European Union, grown in 19 member states. Every year, our farmers and sugar producers generate billions of Euros in value to rural communities across our regions. From common household white sugar, to high-tech products, the companies of the European sugar industry are active in the development of a wide range of products, all of which originate from sugar beet.

These include food ingredients, animal feed, green chemistry products (replacing petroleum-based materials) and renewable ethanol for food and non-food uses. Other products such as sugar factory lime, soil and stones serve as value-added inputs to the agriculture, construction, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors.

Our sector is therefore a key contributor to the transition to the bio-based economy in Europe.