Conference agenda

Please see below for the WABCG10 Conference Agenda, please note that this is a provisional agenda and is subject to change, including some speaker names. A downloadable version of the Agenda will be available when the Agenda is finalised.

Sunday 11th July - Saturday 17th July 2010

Pre-conference leisure tours commence and continue throughout

Wednesday 14th July - Sunday 18th July 2010

Pre-Conference Tour

An optional Pre-Conference Tour has been arranged for all delegates and partners from 14 July 2010 to 18 July 2010 inclusive. This five day tour around England has been specifically tailored for WABCG10 delegates and provides highlights of some of the best known and most popular natural attractions in England.(Prices start at £350 per person and can be booked at www.WABCG10.com).

Sunday 18th July 2010
16:00 - 19:00	Conference Registration at Hotels

Monday 19th July 2010
Session 1 - 31st Council Session / Conference Registration on site
08:00 - 11:00	Conference Registration at West Road Concert Hall
08.30 - 10.30	WABCG Members Only
10.30 - 11.00	Morning Break
Session 2 - Opening Session Chairman: Alf Cristaudo
11.00 - 11.05	Conference Chairman Opening Alf Cristaudo, Chairman, WABCG Alf Cristaudo is Chairman of Canegrowers of Austraila and became WABCG Chairman in 2007.
11.05 - 11.20	NFU Sugar Welcome Opening William Martin, Chairman, NFU Sugar William Martin has been a member of the NFU Sugar Board since 2004. He became Vice Chairman in 2006 and has been Chairman since 2008.
11.20 - 11.30	Address HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO The Duke of Gloucester carries out a significant number of public duties and is associated with over 150 charites and organisations. His patronages reflect his professional and personal interests.
11.30 - 11.40	HMG Address The Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP, Secretary of State, Defra, HMG Former Sugar Beet Commodity Secretary for the National Farmers Union, Caroline Spelman has served as the MP for Meriden in the West Midlands since 1997. In May 2010 she became Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
11.40 - 11.55	Opening Address Ajay Vashee, President, IFAP Ajay Vashee has been involved in organized agriculture for over 22 years. Before his election as the IFAP President in June 2008, Mr Vashee was President of Zambian National Farmers Union.
11.55 - 12.05	Opening Comments Dr Peter Baron, Executive Director, ISO
12.05 - 12.30	An Overview of the UK Sugar Beet Industry Colm McKay, Agriculture Director, British Sugar The UK’s sugar beet industry has been through significant changes during the last few years. What does it look like today and what challenges lie ahead?
12.30 - 14.00	Lunch
Session 3 - Sugar and Ethanol World Markets and Impacts on Growers Chairman: Tim Murray
14.00 - 14.20	Main drivers of the World Sugar Market Cyril Moine, EU Trade Manager, Sucres et Denrées A description of the fundamentals of the world sugar market (production, consumption … ) together with a special focus on two main players in the world market : Brazil and India
14.20 - 14.40	Ethanol's fragile recovery - trends and opportunities in world ethanol market Geraldine Gilmartin, Senior Analyst, Kingsman S.A An overview of global supply, demand and pricing in the major global ethanol producing and consuming countries. Changes in world trade and exports and an overview of global ETBE markets
14.40 - 15.00	The impact of speculation on market volatility for sugar markets? Vincent Godier, Head of Soft Commodities and Agriculture, Crédit Agricole-CIB Agricommodities are volatile by nature. A review of the role of investors / speculators and how they have operated in sugar economics over the last few years and the tools involved in sugar trading. What is yet to come?
15.00 - 15.20	Beet versus cane sugar production: general trends and challenges Mauro Virgino, Trading Analyst, ED&F Man Synopsis to follow
15.20 - 15.40	Panel Discussion
15.40 - 16.10	Afternoon Break
Session 4 - Contractual Conditions and Farm Practices Chairman: William Martin
16.10 - 16.30	EU contractual practices - a great diversity of systems Elisabeth Lacoste, General Secretary, CIBE Despite a common regulation, contractual practices vary considerably across the EU. What lessons can be drawn and what distinctions exist between quota/out of quota contracts and between private companies and cooperatives?
16.30 - 16.50	Contract conditions in Australia Ian Ballantyne, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Canegrowers Association What contract conditions operate in Australia for sugar and how are growers dealing with world market volatility?
16.50 - 17.10	Brazilian's sugarcane payment system: CONSECANA - SP Maria Christina Pacheco, Vice President, ORPLANA How are sugarcane prices established in the Center-South region, and what specificities and distinctions are there between the different Brazilian states? What are the challenges and modifications under current discussion on this issue?
17.10 - 17.30	Panel Discussion WABCG and NFU Sugar coordinate draft Congress statement and Press Release
19.00	Welcome Reception Delegates hosted by Germains at Fitzwilliam Museum

Tuesday 20th July 2010
Session 5 - Trade and Policy Chairman: Alain Jeanroy
09.00 - 09.20	ACP Sugar exports to the EU - Threats and challenges Geo Govinden, Overseas Representitive, Mauritius Sugar Syndicate and Chamber of Agriculture Reform of the EU Sugar Regime (2006) / Denunciation of the Sugar Protocal (effective September 2009) / Economic Partnership Agreements negotiations / Everything But Arms (EBA) Initiative / Implimentation regulation regarding ACP sugar Imports (safegaurd mechanisms) / WTO negotiations / FTA Negotiations / Reform ot the CAP.
09.20 - 09.40	U.S.-Mexican Sweetener Market Integration: Progress report on NAFTA Nicholas Sinner, Executive Director, Red River Valley What are the consequences for growers from the sugar sector involved in this agreement? Consequences and modifications of both American and Mexican sugar sector: production level, growers’ incomes, new geographical repartition of industrial transformation areas.
09.40 - 10.00	Indian Sugar Policy: how to reduce difficulties to stabilize India’s sugar production? Vinay Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Sugar Exim Corporation India has witnessed significant fluctuation in production in recent years. What is the current situation in India and how does Indian Sugar Policy intend to stabilise production as well as growers’ income?
10.00 - 10.20	EU trade policy and its implications for the future level of sugar prices in the EU Martin Todd, Managing Director, LMC International Access to the EU sugar market is regulated by a range of preferential access arrangements. Together with the EU’s WTO commitments and its own management arrangements, they shape the market environment within which sugar prices are formed. These issues are discussed to form a view of the likely level of sugar prices in the EU before and after 2015.
10.20 - 10.50	Panel Discussion
10.50 - 11.20	Morning Break
Session 6 - Climate Change and Agriculture's Response Chairman: George Mlingwa
11.20 - 11.40	OECD-FAO medium-term agricultural outlook, 2010-2019 Armelle Elasri, Agro-Food Trade and Markets Division, OECD Presentation on the 2010-2019 OECD-FAO agricultural outlook with a special focus on the sugar sector. The evolution of production, consumption, trade and prices will be analyzed. latest trends in the dynamic emerging economies will be highlighted. Underlying assumptions and associated risks and uncerainties will be discussed.
11:40 - 12:00	A new role for Agriculture through growing concerns on environmental issues? David King, General Secretary, IFAP / WABCG Against the backdrop of The Copenhagen Conference and with a growing importance of environmental issues, producers may be considered as major players : is there a new role for producers?
12.00 - 12.20	Future of EU sugar Lars Hoelgaard, Deputy Director General - DG Agriculture and Rural Development, EU Commission
12.20 - 12.40	Panel Discussion
12.40 - 14.30	Lunch
Half-Day Technical Tours
Leave at 13.30 for 14:30 - 18.00	Delegates will be invited to select one of several tailor-made trips. Coaches will return delegates to Crowne Plaza and Royal Cambridge Hotel
	Coaches return to hotels & Free Evening

Wednesday 21st July 2010

Session 7 - Research and Technical Developments Chairman: Jürgen Winter
09.00 - 09.20		Sugar Beet for Biogas Production - potential and first production experiences Volker Utesch, Regional Director North Europe, KWS The practice of growing crops for farm-based anaerobic digesters to produce biogas is already well established in Germany and in several other European countries. With financial incentive schemes to promote renewable energy supplies recently introduced into the UK the technical and practical implications of using sugar beet in the anaerobic digester are discussed.
09.20 - 09.40		New Developments in tropical beet Jean-Noel Evrard, Marketing Manager, SES VanderHave SESVanderHave is a unique specialist sugar beet seed company working around the world. Active in India for over five years, SESVanderHave works locally with both Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) and other institutes and has determined the most suitable genetics from their portfolio for tropical conditions, and with private company, Pest Control India (PCI) they have developed effective crop management techniques to manage sugar beet pests and diseases under tropical conditions
09.40 - 10.00		Plene, An Innovative Sugarcane Planting Technology Leandro Martinho,Global Technical Manager Insecticides, Syngenta Plene concept is an evolutionary way of planting sugarcane to replace the current high cost path requiring heavy equipment and intensive labour. With Plene, Syngenta developed a methodology of producing sugarcane one-budded setts treated with proprietary crop protection and coatings that allows germination, crop stand and vigour.
10.00 - 10.30		Panel Discussion
10.30 - 11.00		Morning Break
Session 8 - Sustainability Chairman: Ian Ballantyne
11.00 - 11.20		A comparison of ethanol produced from sugarbeet and sugarcane Alain Jeanroy, Executive Director, Confédération Générale des planteurs de Betteraves Comparison from an energy and GES perspective as well as part of the overall sustainable development point of view.
11.20 - 11.40		The political and social impacts for canegrowers in developing countries – case study on block farming in Tanzania George Mlingwa, Chairman, Tanzania Sugarcane Growers Political will and social life of the past can play an important role in shaping up farming models for cane growing in developingcountries. One of such models is that of Block Farming currently being adopted in Tanzania.
11.40 - 12.00		Biofuel as a driver for sustainable sugar production Patrick Lynch, Biofuel Sustainability Manager, Greenergy Demand for sustainably produced ethanol - impact of European and national law / Implementing sustainability in practice / The Greenergy example – sustainable production of sugar cane ethanol in Brazil
12.00 - 12.20		Panel Discussion
12.20 - 14.00		Lunch
Session 9 - Promotion Health and Consumption Chairman: Cem Kaptan
14.00 - 14.20		Sugar and health - what does the science really tell us? Dr Alison Boyd, Director, Sugar Bureau One major difficulty with any discussion of sugar is the general misconception that it is an unhealthy and unnecessary part of the human diet. But does this view stand up to examination against the large amount of scientific evidence now available?
14.20 - 14.40		Why do so many people believe sugar is bad for them? Dr Richard Cottrell, Director General, World Sugar Research Organization Outline of the political,psychological and commercial forces that have shaped consumer perceptions.
14.40 - 15.10		Panel Discussion WABCG staff to circulate draft Congress statement and Press Release.
15.10 - 15-40		Afternoon Break
Session 10 - Closing Session Chairman: Alf Cristaudo
15.40 - 15.55		Final Statement Alf Cristaudo, Chairman, WABCG Issue Final Statement of Congress and Press Release.
15.55 - 16.10		Election Alf Cristaudo, Chairman, WABCG
16.10 - 16.20		Remarks by incoming President
16.20 - 16.25		Invitation to 11th World Beet and Cane Growers Conference Vinay Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Sugar Exim Corporation
16.25 - 16.30		Invitation to the 32nd WABCG Council George Mlingwa, Chairman,Tanzania Sugarcane Growers Georges and the TASGA team are working on a short presentation for this announcement
16.30 - 16.40		Closing Remarks by Outgoing Chairman Alf Cristaudo, Chairman, WABCG
Session 11 - Council Session - New WABCG Chairman, Vice-Chairmen and Executives
16.40 - 18.00		Members Only
from 19.15		British Sugar Gala Dinner and pre-dinner drinks on the back lawn at King's College, Cambridge

Thursday 22nd July 2010

British Sugar Post Conference Full-Day Technical Tour
09.30 - 15.00	Delegates will be hosted by British Sugar on a full day technical tour. This will include field visits, factory and packing tours ending up back at the hotels in Cambridge. There will also be a visit to Broom’s Barn Research Centre and short presentations from resident scientists. Coaches will collect delegates attending the technical tour from the Crowne Plaza and Royal Cambridge Hotels and will drop delegates at both hotels at the end of the event.
Conference Close