17 November 1997
Crain's Chicago Business
Paul Merrion

Sudanese import ban threatens to gum up works for local firms

WASHINGTON -- Amid Iraq's revived bellicosity, the Middle East peace talks, Pakistani terrorism and collapsing congressional support for free trade, few Americans took note of a recent U.S. ban on imports from the Republic of Sudan.

Yet it's likely that trade sanctions against Africa's largest country will have a more direct impact on many Chicago companies than any of these other events.

Northeastern Illinois has the nation's largest concentration of printers and candy makers, industries that are heavy users of gum arabic, a versatile organic chemical that comes largely from Sudan.

For instance, Chicago's Brach & Brock Confections Inc. will have to find alternative sources for more than 10,000 pounds of gum arabic used annually for only two of its many candy lines -- a huge amount considering the U.S. imports less than 6,000 tons a year.

That supply line is now cut off. On Nov. 4, citing Sudan's continued support of international terorism, slavery and religious persecution, the Clinton administration imposed a trade embargo and froze all Sudanese government assets in the U.S.

To the Sudanese government, the U.S. move was aimed at undermining peace talks between the capital, Khartoum, and rebels in the south.

"I think they chose the wrong time to impose sanctions," says Eltayeb Ahmad, an official of the Sudanese Embassy here. "They clearly sided with the rebel movement," which hardened the rebels' demands.

Once considered the breadbasket of the Arab world, Sudan has undergone famine, a 14-year civil war and a military coup in recent decades.

"By the end of the 1980s ... it was the basket case" of the Arab world, says John Voll, professor of history at Georgetown University and author of more than 40 articles and two books on Sudan.

Because of supply problems in the past, most users of Sudanese gum arabic today are those who have not been able to find a good substitute. It is produced from acacia trees mostly in the wild, whose bark is slashed until small drops of gum arabic ooze out, which is then collected and purified.

"It's not a great situation to have all your sources coming from one country," says a spokesman for Chicago-based Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., which gradually has eschewed the use of gum arabic over the last four years.

A little gum arabic goes a very long way: The U.S. imported only $9 million worth last year from Sudan, which accounts for 70% to 90% of the nation's supply.

But it is pervasive throughout many industries. Excelling as a binder, stabilizer, coating agent and emulsifier, gum arabic is found in products ranging from cough drops to batteries, and from ice cream to colostomy rings. Its biggest users are the candy, beverage and printing industries.

Alternatives are 'not compararble'

Many types of food processing will be forced to use alternatives of lower quality or higher cost. But high-speed lithography and other types of printing demand gum arabic of the highest quality, which comes only from Sudan

"The gums from Chad, Kenya and Nigeria are not comparable," says Ron Conti, director of research and development for Oakland, N.J.-based Varn International Inc., a supplier of specialty chemicals for the printing industry. Sudanese gum arabic "has always been the most effective."

Gum arabic is used to seal printing plates to prevent oxidization, as well as in dampening solutions that prevent ink from bleeding into areas where no ink is supposed to go.

The trade sanctions are likely to make the price of gum arabic skyrocket, but for printers especially, the issue is one of indirect expense. As a wetting agent and preservative, Sudanese gum arabic represents a tiny fraction of printing costs. But without it, waste and set-up times increase dramatically.

"If the political situation isn't resolved in a year or two, it could cause some smaller printers to go out of business," says Mr. Conti, whose company's R&D facility is in west suburban Addison.

Several Chicago-area candy makers and printers contacted last week were still unaware of the situation, but their suppliers weren't.

"It could end up being a really huge problem," says James Kostohrys, a pressroom specialist for Itasca-based Hanley Graphic Products Co., which sells specialty chemicals for the printing industry. Using gum arabic from other countries will mean washed-out colors, inconsistent results among batches and the need for more expensive paper, he adds.

A coalition of 13 major trade groups -- led by the National Soft Drink Assn., the National Confectioners Assn. and Printing Industries of America -- is fighting to exempt gum arabic from the trade sanctions.

While there's a case to be made for a waiver, it could be moot: Last week, the leader of Sudan's parliament called for counter-sanctions, namely a ban on exports of gum arabic to the U.S.

'A good-faith show'

President Clinton's executive order pre-empted moves in Congress to impose trade sanctions against Sudan, prompted largely by religious conservatives concerned about the Islamic government's treatment of Christians who reside mostly in the rebel-controlled south

"This is a good-faith show from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other," says Georgetown's Mt. Voll. "If you're a gum arabic importer in Chicago, you might have a different view."

Ironically, he adds, "this will be forcing people to buy their gum arabic from that bastion of religious and political freedom, Nigeria, and Sudan's ally, Chad."

Home |  About Us |  Resources |  Press Releases |  Federal Activity & Legislation
State & Local Activity |  NFTC Lawsuit |  Contact Us |  Site Index

.