SRA boosts anti-sugar smuggling drive

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has strengthened its efforts against sugar smuggling in the Philippines.

SRA Administrator Bernardo Trebol met with Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales to iron out coordination between both agencies.

Trebol and Morales, together with Customs Deputy Commissioner Jarius Paguntalan and retired general Joel Goltiao as consultant of the sugar industry for anti-smuggling, agreed to enhance the partnership between the SRA and Bureau of Customs (BOC).

There is an existing coordinating mechanism between the two agencies as defined in the memorandum of understanding signed in January 2001 which is supplemented by the Joint Memorandum Order No. 4-2002 dated August 2002.

The sugar industry also coordinates with the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) through their anti smuggling task force.

The BOC recognizes the personnel assigned by the FPI and allows these persons access to importation documents at the various entry points of the country. The documents are then reviewed by the FPI and sugar industry representatives to check for possible technical smuggling attempts.

Trebol informed Morales that big volumes of smuggled sugar are already in the market noting that SRA operatives monitored and inspected various mall centers in Divisoria and observed that traders of alleged smuggled sugar handing out calling cards and contact numbers to potential buyers while offering discounts for bulk purchases.

Last March, the same operatives reported the abundant availability of sugar from Thailand in Tarlac reporting further that planters’ organizations in Cebu have noted the sudden drop of the selling price of sugar by as much as P45 per kilogram because of the entry of smuggled goods.

In a meeting between legitimate traders and the SRA, the former complained that they are having difficulty selling the government approved importation under the NFA - TES because of the availability of the smuggled commodity.

The SRA is moving to bolster its efforts at fighting smuggling which mostly affects small farmers who cannot afford mechanized land preparation activities and engage in bulk purchase of fertilizer which are meant to reduce the cost of production.