• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Department of Agriculture ordered the Sugar Regulatory Administration to look into the actual volume of ‘other sugars’ entering the country, as according to Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED), reports of the unregulated entry of premixes have been noted in staggering quantities over the past eight years.
Lamata said they sought the help of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel during a recent consultative meeting with him, in investigating the alarming volume of other sugars, which they were told has reached about 200,000 to 300,000 metric tons per year, probably causing the stagnant demand for sugar in the past decade.
“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,” Lamata said.
Lamata added that he is thankful for the swift response from Laurel, who immediately ordered SRA Administrator Pablo Azcona to “look into the actual volumes of other sugars coming into the country and if warranted, require them to acquire clearances as well.”
Under tariff code 17.02 of the Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN), only high fructose corn syrup is strictly regulated when the sugar industry demanded that products using this sweetener must be taxed higher, after a slump in sugar demand some eight years ago.
However, other sugars like glucose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, maltodextrin, and lactose among others, are not being regulated and before we knew it, we received reports that they are coming in, in staggering amounts, Lamata said.
This, he added, is probably why demand for sugar has remained constant in the last 10 years or so, despite the growth of the population, and if this is not addressed, then the sugar industry will be paying a hefty price, along with the 5 million Filipinos dependent on the industry.
We hope that Administrator Azcona will make this a priority and can provide us updates before the next milling season starts, Lamata said, in a statement issued by UNIFED.
The stakeholders consultation included members of the SRA Board, representatives from the Philippine Sugar Millers Association, and representing sugar planters, were UNIFED, Luzon Federation and the Mindanao Sugar Federation headed by Rep. Manuel Zubiri.
Notably absent were representatives from the Sugar Council, “but they too were invited,” Lamata added.*
