THE Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has deferred a new set of fees it had planned to collect starting this weekend for clearances to import a number of non-sugar sweeteners.
Sugar Order (SO) No. 6 had originally been set to take effect on Feb. 1 but encountered resistance from food and beverage manufacturers who objected to the additional cost.
The order imposes a P60 per metric ton clearance fee on sucrose, lactose, glucose, maltose, maple syrup, honey and caramel, and flavored syrups, among others.
The Philippine Confectionery Biscuit Snack Food Association and the Beverage Industry Association of the Philippines had written to the SRA, citing concerns over the fees.
The decision to defer had been arrived at during a Jan. 23 board meeting, pending consultations with industry, the SRA said.
In a statement on Thursday, the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) warned of the sugar order’s possible impact on prices.
FPI President Jesus L. Arranza said SO 6 could also increase the “cost of doing business and adversely affect consumers.”
“The SRA order has the potential to trigger ripple effects, like congestion at the ports, leading to additional demurrage fees that would hurt the makers of confectioneries and beverages in terms of production delays and additional costs,” he added.
The SRA has said that the order is intended to help document and better monitor the entry of imported non-sugar sweeteners, and not to restrict their entry, while domestic sugar producers have long agitated for limits on imports of non-sugar sweeteners.
“There is no need to add another bureaucratic layer if the goal is only to gather data because import records are already available from the Bureau of Customs,” Mr. Arranza said.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis S. Azcona said by telephone: “The Department of Agriculture (DA) took it upon itself to sit down with the people who wrote us letters and to see if their concerns are valid or speculative.”
Mr. Azcona said that the order will not cause delays in the processing of import clearances.
“We have been issuing import clearances for fructose under Tariff Code 1702 since 2017, and there have been no reports of delays or disruptions to business operations,” he added.
He called the clearance fees “minimal” and estimated them to account for about 0.08% of manufacturers’ costs.
He added that the SRA is also set to implement an online portal for import clearance applications.
“We welcome the opportunity to sit with them and find solutions to their concerns,” Mr. Azcona added. — Adrian H. Halili