U.S. announces imported sugar allocations

   The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Thursday announced the allocations for the increased fiscal year 2011 in-quota quantity of the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported refined sugar.
   TRQs allow countries to export specified quantities of a product to the United States at a relatively low tariff, but subject all imports of the product above a pre-determined threshold to a higher tariff.
   On Friday, the Department of Agriculture increased the in-quota quantity of the TRQ for refined sugar for fiscal year 2011 by 136,078 metric tons raw value (MTRV), none of which is reserved for specialty sugars. USTR is allocating a total of 25,000 MTRV of this amount to Canada and 111,078 MTRV to be administered on a “first-come, first-served basis,” subject to any other provision of law.
   This addition to the refined sugar TRQ opened Thursday, and may be entered until Nov. 30.
   The certificate of quota eligibility is required for sugar entering under the tariff-rate quota for refined sugar that is the product of a country that has been allocated a share of the tariff-rate quota for refined sugar.