"The letter (to the EU Commissioner) does not say that we will accept the quotas, but we have sought an explanation from the EU, this will be a subject of further talks and the government will bear in mind the interest of our sugar producers," the minister said in parliament.
She thus responded to Bozidar Pankretic of the Croatian Peasants Party (HSS) who asked if Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's statement from May was still topical. Sanader said in May that the negotiations with the EU wold not make the position of Croatian exporters more difficult.
"It is correct what the prime minister said, it is not correct that we agreed to quotas," Grabar Kitarovic told deputies in parliament.
Agriculture Minister Petar Cobankovic said the Government would know how to protect the interests of Croatian sugar producers, adding the Government would enure quotas which would be satisfactory for Croatia and its farmers.