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I. Identification
Gum arabic is used by a number of industries. When the companies that rely on it heavily realized that their primary source of gum arabic was about to be cut off, the lobbying groups that represent those US companies sprung into action – Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Mexico also export gum arabic, but Sudan is by far the largest exporter. The result of the lobbying efforts was an exemption placed on gum arabic allowing companies to apply for a license which permits them to import gum arabic from Sudan.
In August 1998, the attention of Congress was again drawn to the economic sanctions placed on Sudan, due to an alleged relation of suspected terrorist financier, Osama bin Laden, to many Sudanese companies - including the Gum Arabic Company, one of the leading exporters of gum in Sudan. However, most US companies claim that if there is indeed a relationship between Sudanese gum arabic exporters and Mr. bin Laden, they will cease all trade relations with those companies.
The reason why there is such a flap over gum arabic is because it is plentiful in Sudan; in fact gum arabic exports from Sudan compose 70 to 90 percent of the world's supply. The US alone imports 4,000 to 5,000 tons of gum arabic from Sudan, approximately US$9 million a year. In 1995, Sudan exported about US$54 million of gum arabic – about 11 percent of its total exports that year.
II. Legal
Clusters III. Geographic
Clustersa. Geographic Domain: MIDEAST
b. Geographic Site: AFRMID - Africa, Middle East
c. Geographic Impact: Sudan
IV. Trade
Clustersa. Directly Related to Product: Yes
b. Indirectly Related to Product: NO
c. Not Related to Product: No
d. Related to Process: YES
Along with the United States, Germany, the UK, and France are also major importers of gum
arabic from Sudan.
V. Environment
Clusters
The loss of Sudan's gum arabic trade could also have adverse affects on its environment.
Only 5% of the land in Sudan is arable, and everyday more and more forest land is being
cleared to meet expanding mechanized farming needs as well as increasing needs for fuel
wood. However, the acacia tree has been spared and well regenerated, due to its
lucrative nature. If the tree were to loses its value as an export, it too may suffer the
same fate as other forests throughout Sudan.
However, a continuing gum arabic trade in Sudan could also have adverse environmental impacts. Already the lucrative gum arabic trade has moved growers toward cultivating a uniform strand of A. Senegal – considered to be the source of the best quality gum arabic. Are there ecological implications to the removal of other species of the acacia tree and replacing them all with a single species? Will having only a single species of tree in a region adversely affect the soil composition and perhaps alter the soil's ability to support the desired species?
Due to the importance of gum arabic as an export, companies have gone to great lengths to ensure the survival of the acacia trees. "The greatest challenge has been to maintain enough people close to the trees that are to be tapped and harvested." Part of this challenge is supplying food, water, and other supplies to the workers in the forests. Water from the Nile River is usually brought in using tanker trucks. Some companies are also funding projects to build wells and pumps in the key acacia tree regions. Although it is difficult to supply water to the workers, it is not likely that bringing water from another region will have any real environmental effects. But will the migration of workers to the harvesting areas have an advers effect on the tree's environment?
Name: Acacia senegal
Type: Savanna tree
Diversity:
Older trees actually produce more gum per year than younger trees. An older tree can produce
from 379 to 6754 g annually, while a younger tree may produce 188 to 2856 g per year.
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Switching to gum arabic harvested in another country is another possibility, for Chad, Kenya, and Nigeria, also harvest gum arabic. If this is the case, there must be a reason why over three-quarters of the market share is held by Sudanese gum arabic. There is, most chemical suppliers find that gums from these other countries are simply "not comparable" to the gum from Sudan.
There is also the possibility of developing a synthetic substitute. However, this alternative has already been turned down by certain industries that use the gum; for example, newspaper printers – who use gum arabic to preserve lithographic plates – say that "synthetic substitutes are less effective and more costly."
The topic of substitutes also brings up the issue of the affect on the exporter. Although
Germany, the UK, and France are also important importers of gum arabic, the discovery
of an effective, reasonably priced substitute will also have an affect on the amount of gum
arabic these countries import from Sudan. In Sudan, where the per capita GDP is about US$800,
the potential loss of approximately US$54 million annually of gum arabic exports would have
a significant impact on a country that already has serious socio-economic problems.
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VI. Other
Factors
Although gum arabic is a little known substance to a majority of the American public, it
affects almost everyone's daily lives. The newspapers they read, the soda they drink,
the medications they take, are all linked to gum arabic. The willingness of the US Congress
to exempt gum arabic from the complete ban on trade with Sudan is an acknowledgement to the
almost absolute dependency on Sudanese gum arabic. A ban on the trade of gum arabic to the
United States would definitely have economic repercussions in a number of industries.
Beyond simple economic factors, one must consider the socio-economic effects that an absence of gum arabic might have on the United States itself. America is a consumer driven culture, and the American consumer wants products that which have been affordable and readily available in the past to stay that way. Without gum arabic – unless an acceptable substitute is developed – the price of many everyday products would increase. Not only would certain products like newspapers and magazines be more expensive, but some products, such as medicine capsules, may become completely altered. Certainly, this could have a profound impact on American culture.
Americans, although maybe reluctant to spend more on everyday items, for the most part can and will spend more. However, a ban on gum arabic trade in the US could have a greater impact on a poor country like Sudan. Although gum arabic trade with the US does not compose a bulk Sudan's gum exports, it is a significant amount, about US$9 million a year – a considerable amount in a country with a yearly per capita income of about US$800.
Link to Terrorism
Despite the possible adverse affects that full sanctions on Sudanese products by the United
States, the issue of state-sponsorer terrorism cannot be left out of the picture. The
government of Sudan has been known to "export" terrorism beyond its borders. This is evidenced
in the discovery of suspected links between a number of industries in Sudan and the suspected
financier of the two US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998, Osama bin Laden.
