Speaking at a news conference, party member Tonci Tadic said that a Croatian lobbyist in Brussels, Zeljko Ivancevic, had informed him about the introduction of the quotas six months ago.
Tadic said that the SAA did not envisage sugar quotas and that it left Croatia and the EU the possibility to introduce quotas for some products exclusively in case excessive imports of such products threatened their economies.
"I find it hard to believe that Croatian sugar could threaten the EU market," Tadic said, recalling that back in 2000 the EU set quotas for seamless pipes imports from Croatia, which he said had been in force until February this year and which jeopardised the operation of the Sisak Ironworks.
"If we allow the introduction of sugar quotas, we will allow the EU to introduce new quotas every time it decides that Croatia has better and cheaper products," Tadic said.