By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (CONFED) said yesterday they have sent another letter to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) calling for open, transparent and fair sugar importation.

Earlier, CONFED and several other groups from the sugar industry proposed the importation of only 350,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar, compared to the SRA’s proposal of 450,000 MT.

In a letter signed by CONFED President Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama, Jr., which was also addressed to President and concurrent Department of Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., they said the importation should be allocated on the 50:50 ratio between industrial users and sugar producers, while all interested accredited sugar traders should be qualified to participate in the program.

Valderrama also reiterated his group’s earlier letter specifying that the importation volume should be composed of 300,000 MT of refined sugar and 50,000 MT of raw sugar to arrive not earlier than July of this year.

Moreover, the group urged SRA to adopt importation guidelines and will allow the participation of sugar producers and accredited sugar traders.

For sugar producers, the importation allocation should be based on their percentage of production in crop year 2021-2022.

For industrial users, their allocation should be based on their SRA-verified requirements, as determined by their record of excise tax or value-added tax payments, and subject to voluntary submission of applications and record of actual importation by accredited sugar traders.

CONFED recommends applications for importation to be submitted within five days upon the effectiveness of the sugar order for the importation.

The evaluation of applications should be conducted within 10 working days after the deadline of submissions, the group said./DGB, WDJ