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The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is soliciting inputs from stakeholders to assess if the sugar industry has sufficient supply to export sugar to the United States this time.
“The quotas come to mind has been suggested by various stakeholders but we need to study it. My request to the people who brought up [the] idea was [to] come [up] with a very good proposal,” SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said.
Azcona said these recommendations should not negatively impact the farm-gate price (or the selling price between farmers and traders) of local producers.
The SRA is conducting its due diligence to determine if the Philippines will lose access to exporting raw sugar to the United States at a low tariff rate should it still fail to meet its allotment.
“We are trying to find ways. It’s very hard to justify because we are importing. However, we import refined sugar and the US market needs raw, which is locally produced,” Azcona said.
Azcona explained that the local market’s buying price is highest compared to the United States and world markets.“It’s sayang (a waste) to lose such a good market.”
“Even though we are running at a deficit every year, it is so hard to lose the US market. The United States is a premium market compared to the world market,” he told reporters.
Over the last three years, the Philippines has not been fulfilling its export quota to the United States as it had earmarked its production solely for domestic use.
At the same time, the government relied on imports.