Agreement between European farm ministers on a new EU sugar regime will throw many people in developing countries into poverty, the international development agency ActionAid warned. The 36 per cent price reduction in EU sugar agreed as part of the deal, phased in over four years from 2006, is almost double the cut the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific group of sugar-producing countries were prepared to accept - they had requested a 19 per cent cut over eight years. At the same time, the EC is limiting the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) access to EU markets for sugar under the Everything But Arms (EBA) proposal.