CBSA investigation could mean higher sugar prices

CTV Winnipeg: Sugar prices could soon spike Meghan Roberts on why sugar prices could rise by the fall in Canada.

The price of sugar may not be sweet this fall. The Canadian Border Service Agency is investigating companies that import sugar into Canada.

CBSA is looking at exporters that sell refined sugar to Canadian companies for a lower price that they sell it in their own country. It’s also looking at foreign companies that receive subsidies.

CBSA says this kind of investigation helps keep prices up-to-date.

One trade consultant company said increasing taxes could mean an increase in the price of imported refined sugar and all products that use it.

“The manufacturers have to add that to their pricing," said Suzanne Perkins with Livingston International. "It goes down the chain. We, at the end of the day, the consumer, are the ones that pay for it.”

Perkins said that taxes like this are designed to protect Canadian jobs. She said the potential price difference may not be huge, but will affect a large range of products.

One Winnipegger thinks higher sugar prices could have positive health benefits.

“I just read that we consume three times more sugar than the average European did one hundred years ago per year, which is pretty disgusting, and I think that if economic reasons mean they start putting less sugar in products, then all the better,” said Thomas Kroeker.

CBSA said the investigation is ongoing, and will be completed by early September.