Gov’t firms up plan to slap tariffs on ‘other sugar’

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) stood by the plan to slap fees on the importation of “other types” of sugar amid claims that any lower levy could lead to the influx of sugar substitutes.

These sweeteners include glucose, fructose, artificial honey, palm sugar, maltose and other types of sugar.

The SRA said the proposed import clearance fee for “other sugar,” along with the requirement to secure import clearance, “adds another layer of protection for our sugar farmers.”

READ: SRA to address concerns on ‘other sugar’ clearance

“Let me repeat, there are currently no measures against any of these, and it’s the first time fees and clearances will be imposed,” SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said in a statement on Monday.

The SRA was targeting to release the order—aimed at charging import fees as well as monitoring and gathering data on the volume of other sugar—before the year ends.

Azcona reiterated that the SRA was “not proposing a lower import clearance fee for sweeteners to displace locally produced sugar,” addressing criticisms. “Rather, we are now requiring fees and import clearance that the previous SRA ran by people from the Sugar Council never did,” he added.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said earlier that the clearance fee would be lowered “considerably” so that it “would not be inflationary.” Azcona said earlier the fee would be minimal.

This was as the Sugar Council and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines raised concern on the sugar order, albeit noting it was a move in the right direction.

“Lowering the proposed P10 import clearance fee might increase the importation of these sugar substitutes and cause mill-gate sugar prices to drop further,” the groups said in a statement over the weekend.