As negotiations between the EU and Thailand reach a finely poised moment with a fresh round of talks, major regional sugar oragnisations CIUS and ESRA have called for the access to the key ingredient to form part of any agreement, writes Neill Barston.

Moreover, as our title recently reported, European confectionery trade body, Caobisco, which opened our World Confectionery Conference last month in London (see our exclusive video below), has also backed a deal that is believed to offer broad mutual benefits.

According to comments from Caobisco’s president, Tobias Bachmüller, who opened our conference, Thailand  already represents a growing destination for European exports for sweets and snacks.

As far as the sugar sector, the two organisations, CIUS (Committee of European Sugar Users, supporting some 15,000 companies in the sector), and (European Sugar Refiners Association, representing around 4,500 individuals in the processing businesses), asserted that there were multiple core reasons for the deal to be agreed.

This included: diversifying supplies, with Thailand providing an additional source of raw sugar, complementing existing suppliers and strengthening the resilience of the EU market.

In addition, they believed that the move would help secure European competitiveness, with access to raw sugar being essential for EU refiners and the wider food and industrial value chain they supply.

Furthermore, the two organisations observed that in an increasingly uncertain global environment, a more diversified supply base makes the European sugar value chain stronger.

Significantly, any deal would require that Thailand would ensure that it met standards that complied with European food safety  phytosanitary requirements.

As the two industry organisations noted, together, its members purchase about 70% of the EU’s annual production of sugar and provide direct employment to over 700.000 people in Europe. Products made by our members include fine bakery wares, chocolate, confectionery, soft drinks, canned fruits and jams.

In their view, Thailand, which is not presently a major player in the sector, would supplement rather than impact negatively in regards to present importing and export arrangements in the industry.

The organisations cited EU President von der Leyen stated in her 2026 State of the Union address, “In this age of tipping points, our prosperity and security will not only be built at home”.