MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is asking the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to take the lead in going after sugar smugglers.
In a letter to the DTI’s Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection Director Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba, SRA Administrator Bernardo C. Trebol explained that under its current charter, the SRA has no police power.
Trebol said the SRA “is not empowered to go after alleged smugglers as this function is within the exclusive purview of the Bureau of Customs.”
However, Trebol said “there may be a way to identify and apprehend those liable with the help of the DTI.”
He pointed out that the DTI, “has the authority under existing laws to compel traders, wholesalers and retailers to name their suppliers of refined sugar.”
Trebol said the SRA could help by verifying the validity of the supply source “as there is only a handful of refineries in the country and (the) SRA accredits sugar imports.”
“If the source does not check out, the sugar in all probability may be smuggled and Customs shall be alerted,” he pointed out.
The SRA has asked the BOC to keep a tight watch on sugar importations outside of those allowed by the SRA. The sugar agency told the BOC that importations from Thailand and Australia should be investigated because they are not authorized.
The sugar sector had alerted the BOC and DTI to the possible presence of smuggled sugar in Cebu.
Based on the SRA’s monitoring of sugar prices for the first week of March, the average price of refined sugar in Negros Occidental was P52.38 per kilo, while in Negros Oriental the average price was P52.88/k.
In Panay, the monitored average price of refined sugar was P52/k, but in Cebu, the monitored average price of refined sugar was much lower at P45.23/k.
Cebu does not have a sugar refinery and thus, has to import refined sugar.