By CESAR JOLITO III

The government’s move to tighten regulations on imported molasses is a “long-overdue correction” that protects the local sugar industry from what it called a major legal loophole.

This comes as United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines (Unifed) President Manuel Lamata commended the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for issuing Sugar Order No. 4, which amends previous regulations governing the importation of molasses and other sugarcane-derived products for bioethanol production.

Lamata said the new order addresses provisions under Sugar Order No. 14 issued in 2008, which, despite two previous amendments, continued to allow the importation of sugarcane- and sugar-derived products as feedstock for bioethanol production.

He argued that the provision was unlawful and unnecessary, particularly when the country’s ethanol industry was still in its early stages and domestic molasses production was sufficient to meet demand.

“This was an oversight that could have killed the industry had it not been amended,” Lamata said, questioning why the provision remained unchanged for years despite subsequent revisions to the order.

Unifed also credited the current administration for implementing policies regulating molasses imports, saying previous administrations had failed to address the issue.

Aside from supporting the revised import policy, the federation reaffirmed its backing for the existing task force on red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI), which was created last year to combat the spread of the pest affecting sugarcane plantations.

Lamata said the task force, led by the provincial government and composed of government agencies and sugar industry stakeholders, helped reduce RSSI infestations after a spike in cases last year.

With reports of renewed infestations, he said expanding coordination among industry groups and local governments is more important than creating another task force.

Unifed opposed proposals to establish a separate RSSI body, arguing that the current task force already includes sugar federations and has demonstrated results in addressing the pest problem.

Lamata also urged industry stakeholders to support the SRA’s efforts instead of criticizing existing initiatives, saying resources should be directed toward assisting farmers and containing infestations.

The federation said it is organizing a series of consultations with industry leaders, including those in Negros Oriental, to strengthen collaboration in protecting sugar-producing areas across the Negros Island Region and other sugar-growing provinces./CCJ, WDJ