 Besides moral qualms, the low cost of slave-produced Brazilian sugar meant that British colonies in the West Indies were unable to match the market prices of Brazilian sugar, and each Briton was consuming 16 pounds (7 kg) of sugar a year by the 19th century.This combination led to intensive pressure from the British government for Brazil to end this practice, which it did by steps over several decades.First, foreign slave trade was banned in 1850.