SRA orders new system on premix clearances

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has finally issued a Sugar Order to solve the problem on the issuance of clearances and tax assessment on premix products, which has been blamed by sugar producers for slow trading of sugar in the past five weeks.

SRA Administrator Gina Bautista-Martin told The Freeman: "The SRA board has decided to issue an order to improve the system of issuing premix clearance. Laboratory analysis to differentiate sugar and premix will be conducted on all shipments requesting clearance."

Martin added the "the SRA conducts regular study of sugar supply levels in the country. With delayed milling due to weather and low production, the SRA will come up with recommendation on the importation at the right time."

The issue on premix was raised by the Confederation of Sugar Producers (CONFED), the largest group of sugar planters in the country, last week. Its chairman, Raymond Montinola said the entry of large volume of premix sugar is one of the big causes for the slowdown of sugar trading here.

The slowdown further caused sugar prices to drop from P2,400 per lkg to P2,200 per lkg. A few days after the dialog of CONFED with Martin, the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), headed by Enrique Rojas, also announced that two big companies brought in over a million 50-kilo bags of sugar premixes last year.

Montinola said, "There is an accepted concept by the World Customs Organization that any sweetened substance containing more than 65 percent sugar is 'sugar,' and should be taxed under Chapter 17 of the Asian Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature book."

"The certain premix that came in contained 99.9 percent sugar, it's plain and simple sugar. The last figure we saw as the surge or the increase is 25,000 metric tons. Essentially that's bringing in more imported sugar into the country," he said.

Montinola earlier said the biggest problem is in determining the exact percentage of sugar in the imported premixes. The importers might be bringing in premix products containing more than 65 percent sugar. This displaces the demand for domestic sugar to the detriment of the producers, he added.

Rojas said, "We would like to know if the importation by two companies is covered by an approved allocation from the SRA Board. Who authorized such allocation? How did they come up with such volume? Was the proper procedures followed in granting the two companies such a large allocation?"

Bautista earlier assured the planters that the SRA will devise a more stringent way of inspecting premix sugar products that would determine the amount of sugar that is being blended in the premix commodities. (FREEMAN)