Consultation meetings with sugar stakeholders set

MANILA, Philippines — The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) will hold consultation meetings with sugar stakeholders this month to discuss proposals to expand the membership of the SRA board, to remove the board’s authority to reclassify sugar and to make the agency more transparent in its processes.

In a memorandum, the SRA is seeking input from the sugarcane industry stakeholders on the recommendation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to amend Executive Order (EO) 18, S. 1986, which created the agency.

Among the recommendations is incorporating transparency and accountability provisions in the process of issuing import permits and other critical issuances such as those pertaining to the conduct of audit of SRA process and procedures and public consultations.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee also pushed to increase the membership of the SRA board from two to eight members.

From having just representatives from the planters and millers, the SRA board is proposed to have additional members representing sectors from industrial and household consumers, sugar industry workers, sugar transportation sector workers and other relevant stakeholders.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the Department of Agriculture will continue to act as ex-officio chairman of the Sugar Board.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is also suggesting to prohibit the SRA board from delegating its authority to reclassify sugar.

The SRA said it would hold consultation meetings “considering that these proposed amendments and policy recommendations will directly affect” the interest of the sugarcane industry stakeholders.

Following the sugar fiasco stemming from the controversial sugar import order under Sugar Order 4, the Senate minority has pushed for the amendment of EO 18 to strengthen the independence of the SRA board, to make the SRA board more inclusive and representative by expanding its composition, and to make the SRA perform its developmental role better.

In September, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said his office is drafting a bill to increase the membership of the SRA board to represent the other stakeholders.

“Consumers must be represented, and they should even be given more than one seat. Also the traders, industrial users. For planters, it’s about time we divide it into the big ones and the small farmers,” he said.

The lawmaker asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to help in choosing consumers’ representatives.

“We conducted a hearing here because of the complaint that sugar is too expensive from the point of view of the households, the consumers. They are the most important here,” Pimentel said in Filipino.

During that hearing, Delmax Corp. president Rodolfo delos Reyes said traders are also stakeholders in the sugar industry.

Delmax is a trading company primarily engaged in the import, export and domestic trading of sugar.

“So, it would not be a bad idea to include representation in the board for these sectors because each one will have their own perspective and view of the industry. Producers traditionally see it from their side of production. But the consumers, industrial users are at the other end of the spectrum,” Delos Reyes said.