PARIS, Feb 23: The European Union's decision to take two million tons of sugar production off the market next season was needed but the cuts should be distributed evenly, the head of the French growers' group said on Friday.

A European Commission proposal to trim output for the 2007-08 season, designed to prevent a build-up of excess sugar, was passed by the EU's sugar management panel on Thursday.

Part of an overall restructuring of the European sugar industry, the measure will force 18 EU member states to trim their output by at least 13.5 per cent.

"It is a necessary measure in order to maintain the supply/demand balance in the EU and avoid having to store sugar at the end of the season," Alain Jeanroy, director general ofthe French sugar growers' association CGB, told Reuters. "We wanted to have enough time to anticipate the sowing cut, and this measure does allow that."

"In this respect, it is a good thing," he added.

The EU plan exempts Greece, Italy and Portugal because they have already cut sugar production by at least 50 per cent and imposes less stringent reductions on Spain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.

Jeanroy said it would have been fairer if the cuts had been evenly distributed among member states as the exemptions merely rewarded inefficient production.

"There is not the same quota cut for all countries. We in France have a bigger cut, and we think this is not a measure that is orientated towards competitiveness. We prefer a solution where everybody has a 12 per cent cut."—Reuters