INDUSTRY stakeholders are urging the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to regulate all sugar-based products to address the influx of imports that lowers demand for the commodities that are locally produced.
The United Sugar Producers Federation (Unifed) said that around 200,000 metric tons (MT) to 300,000 MT of sugar products enter the country annually, including premixes of the commodity.
“This volume of sugar premixes represents about 4 million bags of sugar, amounting to roughly P10 billion, and the continued lack of regulation for these sugar-based products is highly detrimental to the sugar industry,” Unifed President Manuel Lamata said on Wednesday.
He said that the continued absence of regulation for sugar-based products is detrimental to the local sugar industry.
Currently, only high fructose syrup is regulated under Tariff code 17.02 of the Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature. Asean is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Other sweeteners, such as glucose, sucrose and maltodextrin, are not similarly controlled, which can lead to a surge in the imports of sugar-based products.
“Before we knew it, we received reports that they are coming in, in staggering amounts,” Lamata said.
Unifed said that this regulatory gap might be the reason for the stagnation in demand for locally produced sugar despite the country’s population growth. If not addressed, Lamata said that this could impact the sugar industry and the 5 million Filipinos dependent on it.
With that scenario, the group said that the Department of Agriculture responded swiftly by instructing the SRA to investigate the volumes of imports and to consider implementing clearance procedures if necessary.
Unifed, along with other sugar stakeholders, sought the help of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. during a consultative meeting on Tuesday.
“We hope that Administrator (Pablo Luis) Azcona will make this a priority and can update us before the next milling season starts,” he said.
The consultation also included SRA Board members, representatives from the Philippine Sugar Millers Association, and other sugar federations.
Be the first to comment